Garden's Universe
by Yuuki Itsuka
Summary: Yuki Makoto, after over a 100 years has been reborn. The problem is he's extremely bored, until he receives a letter and is transported to the world of Little Garden! How will things turn out for the our young protagonist?
1. A Universe's Boredom

**Prologue: A Universe's Boredom**

A yawn escaped Yuuki Makoto's lips as he read a book at the public library.

 _What's wrong?_ Asked a voice in his head whom he called Cana.

He was freed from the seal about two years ago and Cana was a soul that latched on to his as he was liberated so the end result was two souls in one body.

 _It's so boring,_ he replied _absolutely boring._

 _You sounded like my foster son._

 _I'd love to meet him._

 _Oh, you two would probably get along smoothly._

 _Is that so? It's still boring here though._

 _Well, nothing you can do about that,_ Cana said as he gave out another bored sigh. _Why don't we go home? She might throw another tantrum if were late._

 _Don't remind me,_ Makoto sighed as he got up.

It was winter 2109, he was stuck as the seal for about a century.

His power was stronger than before and the Universe Arcana allowed him to be more versatile. To be honest, if he was at this level when he was on his journey, he would've steamrolled Tartarus and the twelve shadows no sweat. Heck he might be even to go toe-to-toe with Elizabeth while not using Orpheus Telos.

To get home he needed to board a train. People really love trains huh. Despite the fact that humanity had improved so much this past century and that they've created various means of transportation, they still used trains. Perhaps people still used trains for a nostalgic value? Let's not hope it was so that people can still grope girls when the trains crowded.

After about ten minutes, he reached his stop and got off the. His apartment was five minutes on foot from the train station.

The apartment wasn't that impressive, after all being reborn doesn't mean you keep your money and equipment so he had to settle with a cheap apartment.

Reaching for the door to his room, Makoto felt a premonition. Something dangerous was behind this door. He grabs the doorknob with caution and slowly twisted it. He then opened the door immediately while hiding behind it at the same time.

A flash of purple flew past and slammed into the wall. He hoped the wall was able to withstand that.

Makoto sighed.

"What are you doing Alice?"

The girl in question got up while rubbing her head. She was about twelve or thirteen and had red eyes. Her golden locks reached up to her back and a black headband kept them in place. She wore a purple dress. Her skin was not unlike that of porcelain. She was quite cute, looks very huggable. If she didn't try to jump at him with that kind of force, he would've caught her instead of dodged.

This cute girl is Alice, one of the most powerful Personas of the Death Arcana and also one of his main Personas while he was on his journey.

"Onii-chan that was mean!" Alice cried with a pout on her face. How cute. "You're supposed to catch Alice in your arms and say "I'm back"."

"Alright," Makoto relented as he spread his arms open. The young girl immediately hugged him and he responds by wrapping his arms around her. "I'm back."

"Welcome back!" Alice said happily. She broke the hug and put her hands behind her back while twisting shyly. He didn't like where this was going.

"Onii-chan, what would you like?" nothing if possible. "Dinner?" she says twisting to the right. "Bath?" this time she twists to the left. Don't say it. "Or perhaps," she says putting her right index finger to the side of her lips. "Alice?" she tries to say seductively. Keyword 'tries'. It's really hard to take that seriously if you've watched too many anime.

"Disgusting," says a voice filled with disdain. "Forcing a young girl to say those lewd things, you should be ashamed."

Makoto looked to where the voice came from and saw a girl around his age. The girl wore a shrine maidens outfit, making her stand out a bit. Her long dark violet hair flowed up to her back. Crimson eyes stared on to his. 10 out of 10 would say that she is absolutely beautiful.

Now if she would only stop looking at him in disdain.

"On my defense, I didn't teach Alice any of those things. And also, Alice wanted a hug so I gave her one." Makoto said as he raised he rubbed the back of his head. The disdain in her eyes was still there. "Do you want a hug too, Namie?"

Namie wasn't the girl's real name. It was a shortened version of Izanami. The girl in front of him was the Shinto goddess of Yomi, wife of Izanagi.

"Wha—!" Namie's cheeks alight, before clearing her throat to regain her composure. "Enough of your jokes," she says as she hands him a letter. "I found that on your room a while ago."

That's odd. He doesn't remember going to the mail or bringing a letter to his room. He looked at the letter. _"To Yuki Makoto-dono."_

"Onii-chan," said Alice as her head popped out to his right curiously. "What does the letter say?"

"I must admit that I am quite interested as well," Namie follows up, appearing to his left. "After all it was slipped inside undetected while Alice and I are here."

He looked at them before turning his attention back to the letter. He tried consulting Cana about it but she was strangely silent. "Okay then, let's find out," Makoto says as he broke the seal and opened it.

 _Boys and girls with wondrous talents and much distress, I address thee! If you strive to test your Gifts, then cast aside your friends, your possessions, your world, and come to our_ _ **Little Garden!**_

 _"""_ '!?"""

Within a blink of an eye, everything around them changed. They were suddenly transported 4000m up in the sky. It seems that they were not the only ones transported. There was also a blonde boy, a black haired girl and a girl with a cat.

Alice immediately grabbed on to Makoto as Izanami did the same as they fell.

If the purpose of that letter was to introduce them to a different world, then this was quite a welcome.


	2. Welcome to Little Garden!

**Chapter 01: Welcome to Little Garden!**

Falling 4000m from the sky and passing through some membranes prepared beforehand, they landed on a lake with a large, resounding splash.

Makoto, Alice, and the other two immediately swam for the shore while the brown haired girl helped her cat.

"Are you two alright?" Makoto asked his companions.

"Alice is okay," Alice said as she spat out some water.

"Same here," Izanami replied while fixing her hair.

Makoto breathed out a sigh of relief. Good, they were safe. He knew that they would be but he still worries anyway.

He was quite annoyed at being summoned at such an abrupt manner and being dropped out of the sky as well. Alice and Namie shared the sentiment, if you were to go by the look faces.

The other two who fell with them were more vocal about their discomfort, spouting some curses and water.

Makoto ignored them and focused on drying his clothes. He channelled the power of Phoenix and Suzaku to generate some heat to hasten up the process. His two companions moved closer towards him to dry their clothes faster as well.

Cana was still silent, which worried Makoto. It wasn't like her. She would've made some comments by now, such as when they were dropped of the sky.

 _"Hey Cana,"_ Makoto asked. _"Are you okay?"_

 _"Oh, ah yes I am okay,"_ Cana said, her voice having a slight tinge of nostalgia which made Makoto curious.

 _"Cana, do you know where we are?"_

 _"…yes."_

 _"Can I ask where we are?"_

 __He knew little about Cana, despite the fact that they have been sharing the same body for about two years. The only thing he knew was that she ran an orphanage and one of her foster child was a problem child extraordinaire.

 _"Little Garden, it was written in the letter."_

 _"Well yeah."_

Makoto then remembered something.

*snap**snap*

The sound of snapping fingers brought Makoto out of his mental conversation. Makoto saw the dainty hand of a black-haired girl in front of his face. The girl wore a white dress and black skirt. Her hair was black and was decorated with ribbons on both sides. Her blue eyes stared on to his grey eyes.

"Ah, yes?" Makoto said looking at the girl. "Do you need something?"

"Were you not listenting," the girl said, clearly annoyed. "Introductions, I am Kudou Asuka," she says as she gestured towards herself. "The girl with the cat is Kasukabe Yo," the brown haired girl in question nodded. "And that blonde brute is Sakamaki Izayoi." The boy flashed him a cocky grin.

 _Sakamaki Izayoi? If I remember correctly that's the name of one Cana's foster children. Specifically, the problem child extraordinaire._

 __"Hmmm, I am Yuuki Makoto, nice to meet you," Makoto introduced himself with a curt nod.

"I am Alice," Alice said with a smile as she held the side of her skirt and bowed.

"Namie," Izanami offhandedly introduced herself using the nickname he gave her.

"Hmmm, I see," Asuka said lightly nodding. "Did you three receive a strange letter as well?"

"Only Onii-chan received a letter," Alice answered for him. "Namie and Alice were dragged in as well because we were too close to Onii-chan when he opened the letter."

"Anyway," Izayoi said looking around. They were in a forest. "Does anyone know where this is?"

"Little Garden," Makoto said. "That's what's written in the letter."

"Well, that's true," Izayoi replied. "But where is Little Garden?"

Little Garden, He had heard about it from Cana before. It was a place where there were trials called Gift Games were held. It was also filled with mythological beings, from the lowest spirit to the supreme gods.

"Well," Izayoi said, it seems that he missed yet another discussion. "Why don't we ask the one's that been hiding over there."

Hmmm? It appears that they have also noticed the person hiding in the bushes.

"Oh? You noticed at well?"

"Of course, I'm an undisputed champion in hide-and-seek."

"I have keen senses. I would notice them even if I didn't want to."

"Alice can smell fear, there's a lot of it coming from those bushes."

"Ho? That's quite interesting."

Although Izayoi had said that with a smile on his face, his eyes clearly said otherwise.

"U-umm," a timid voice, clearly female, came from the bushes. A literal bunny girl appeared. The rabbit ears atop of her flowing black hair was shaking in fear. Her red eyes showed that she was frightened. For her dress, well, it could be said that it was made by a pervert. ""C-could we talk this out peacefully?"

"""I refuse!"""

The three problem children said in unison.

"Alice doesn't like rabbits, so no," Alice said looking at the bunny girl with cold eyes.

"Even if Makoto and I wanted to, the vote is 4-3," Izanami said shrugging her shoulders. "With 'talking peacefully' losing."

The rabbits hope was crushed.

"Unghh, not even giving Kuro Usagi a chance…" the rabbit, Kuro Usagi, mumbled depressed.

As she said those words, Alice and Yo had already walked towards her side. They each grabbed Kuro Usagi's left and right ears and—

"Ei!"

"Tou!"

"Fugyaa!?"

—and pulled it with force.  
"W-what are you two doing!?" Kuro Usagi cried out.

""Satisfying my curiousity.""

The two said in unison.

Alice was lying, especially since she had a sadistic smile that spelled trouble on her face. She just wanted to pull Kuro Usagi's ears.

"Hey, let me try too." Izayoi said as he grabbed the ear that Alice had released.

"So these rabbit ears are real," Asuka said, taking the one that Yo had let go.

"H-huh!? W-wait!" The poor rabbit's cries fell to deaf ears and again her ears were pulled from both directions.

"Aaaahhh!" Kuro Usagi's sceams echoes far and wide throughout the entire forest.

"Shouldn't we stop them," Izanami asks Makoto, who had a bored look on his face.

"I doubt they'll listen," Makoto shrugged. "Let's just wait this out."

And so an entire hour was spent with the problem children harassing Kuro Usagi while Makoto and Izanami watched.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"I can't believe this!" Kuro Usagi cried out with tears on her eyes, no doubt still in pain.

"To think it would take an hour before you decided to Kuro Usagi! You really are problem children!"

"Are you going to talk or not?" Izayoi said in a bored tone.

"Is it really okay for me start now? I shall now start! Welcome to—" she started to say but was abruptly interrupted.

"—Little Garden, a world where you can participate in Gift Games, which only people with Gifts are allowed to participate in."

Everyone looked at Makoto, the one who interrupted Kuro Usagi, who now has a frozen look on her face.

"Everyone here has a special ability correct? Those abilities are called Gifts. Gifts are blessings received from various deities, demons, spirits, and stars."

"…"

"Gift Games are events where those Gifts can compete with each other," Makoto explained not paying attention to the various looks he was given. "Little Garden is a place created for the sole purpose of facilitating Gift Games."

"Gift bearers are required to join one of the many Communities in Little Garden, it is a must. The one who wins a Gift Game receives a prize from the Host.

"…"

"The Host can be anyone. From bored deities with have too much free time to various Communities that wishes to show off their superiority. While the former has no restrictions on who is allowed to enter, their Games are extremely difficult, and it's entirely possible that you wouldn't survive it. The reward, however, is extremely exceptional; it is also possible to receive new Gifts. For the latter, you need something that can be used as a Chip to participate. The winning party wins the Chips provided by the losers."

Asuka raised her hand to ask a question, but he was on a roll. "A Chip can be anything, ranging from money to Gifts itself. Depending on the outcome, it is possible for you to gain or lose a Gift."

"To join a Gift Game, if we exclude the ones between two Communities, then all you have to do is sign up before the deadline. There are many small-scale Gift Games around Little Garden in which you can participate in any time."

"H-hold on," Asuka called out, but was ignored.

"Contrary to what you might be thinking now, Gift Games are not the law. There are still the use of currency and trading and anyone who commits crimes will be punished accordingly."

"…" Everyone sans Alice and Izanami was looking at Makoto. He smiled a bit. Due to his curiosity, he would always end up asking Cana about Little Garden and he managed to memorize all the facts and trivia.

"Despite spacing out a lot, you seem quite knowledgeable," Asuka complimented him, clearly impressed. "I may have to revaluate you." Yo nodded in agreement while Izayoi grinned approvingly at him.

"Well," Makoto said looking at Kuro Usagi who was still frozen. "If you have any more questions, just ask Kuro Usagi."

Everyone looked at the rabbit, she was still frozen in place and Makoto was starting to get worried.

"...n...e." The rabbit mumbled.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"None! There's nothing more to explain!" Kuro Usagi exploded, tears in the corner of her eyes. "Makoto-san has already explained everything that Kuro Usagi was going to explain! Waaah~!" She started crying and Makoto started to feel like an ass.

"Well," Izayoi said looking at the rabbit. "There is one question that only you can answer, Kuro Usagi."

"R-really?" Kuro Usagi said with a hopeful expression.

"Yeah, it's just a simple question."

"What is it?"

Izayoi now had serious look on his face, which kind of felt out of place. "Is this world….fun?"

Everyone looked at Kuro Usagi. Despite all the knowledge Makoto had on Little Garden, he isn't a resident of this world so he has no idea what it's like living here. So as it stands, Kuro Usagi being a resident of the world is the only one who can answer Izayoi's question.

 _Cast aside your friends, possessions, world._

They had cast aside everything—well the other three anyway, Izanami and Alice were the only ones that Makoto would never cast aside and they were with him in this world—, no doubt that such a sacrifice needed much compensation. The question is, can this world give out such a compensation for that sacrifice?

"YES!" Kuro Usagi said happily, "Gift Games are trials for those that had transcended into new heights! Little Garden is much more fun than any other worlds, Kuro Usagi personally guarantees it!"

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—at a certain place in Little Garden

"?" a blonde girl who was drinking her tea looked towards the window.

"Is there something the matter, milady?" The person beside her asked. The person was also a girl. She wore a modified dress and a mask. The girl's long hair was held up in a ponytail. The girl emanated an aura of power and skill.

"Oh, it's nothing," the blonde girl, [Queen Halloween] who of the three greatest problem children of Little Garden, told her favourite companion. "It just feels like an extremely interesting person has arrived."

"?" Her companion, Faceless, could only tilt her head in confusion.

"Now," the Queen giggled. It was a giggle that would make you shiver a bit; it was a mischievous giggle only a problem child can make. "I wonder, what will happen next?"

 **[Author's Note]**

 **Here's the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. By the way, I went with Yuuki Makoto instead of Arisato Minato, because I felt like Minato was bit overused.**


	3. Eh? It seems that the other three

**Chapter Two: Eh? It seems that the other three…**

Kuro Usagi, despite the rough start, was having a great day. They had originally sent four letters, but they got six people. She also felt that the two girls with Makoto were extremely powerful.

With this, they would be able to bring their community back to its former glory, perhaps even greater than before.

They had arrived at their destination. It was Little Garden Outer Gate no. 2105380, Peribed Plaza.

"Jin-bocchan! I brought new people~!",Kuro Usagi spotted Jin by the fountain and immediately called out to him causing the young boy to look up.

Jin Russell is a young boy with curly-green hair and wore a large robe. His eyes were black and had quite the innocence in them. Despite his young age, Jin is the leader of their Community.

"Welcome back Kuro Usagi," Jin greeted with a smile. "Those two girls are?"

"Yes!" Kuro Usagi said with a smile while turning around. "These six are…" The smile slowly melted away when she saw that only Asuka and Yo was there.

"Eh? Where are the other four? A blonde gentleman with vulgar personality, the grey-eyed one who usually space out, the very scary little girl, and the long haired young woman."

"We don't know about the other three but Izayoi-kun went to that direction." Yo answered while pointing to where they saw the steep cliff-side.

Kuro Usagi was dumbfounded for a moment and then she shook her head an asked, or more accurately, yelled.

"Why didn't you stop him!?"

"He told us not too."

"Then why didn't you tell Kuro Usagi!?"

"He told us not to tell you."

"Liars, you must be lying. You two just found it too much of a trouble didn't you?" Kuro Usagi concluded.

""Un.""

And just like that, Kuro Usagi's day was ruined once again.

"What about Makoto-san and the other two!?"

"We don't know that as well," Asuka admitted. "We didn't notice that they were gone until now."

Asuka found it strange. How can someone vanish easily? Makoto was in front of her too, there was no way she could've missed him or the other two girls that were practically always by his side.

The rather comedic scene was broken when Jin paled and yelled. "This is bad! There are many Mythical Beasts roaming around the [Edge of the World]!

"Mythical Beasts?" Yo asked, her interest piqued.

"Y-yes, Mythical Beasts are beasts that possess Gifts. Those that take residence near the [Edge of the World] are particularly powerful!"

"Is that so? ... What a pity," Asuka commented.

"Losing before the game started, how sad." Yo added.

"This isn't the time to be joking around!"

Jin was particularly shocked at the flippant attitude he couldn't help but yell. The other two just shrugged their shoulders acting like they don't care.

Kuro Usagi let out a long tired sigh, her hair turning from black to light red. She was going to have a word with these problem children, preferably a long and dreadful lecture. "Jin-bocchan, I'll leave these two on your care. Kuro Usagi will capture that problem child."

"O-okay," Jin said, he then remembered something. "What about the other three?"

She did say six and four were missing. They knew where Izayoi was, but were clueless on Makoto and his companions' whereabouts

"Kuro Usagi will focus on this one first before going for the others," Kuro Usagi decided. She turned towards the remaining problem children. "Can I ask you two to keep an eye out for them while exploring Little Garden?"

It didn't sound like a request but more like an order, but Asuka and Yo just nodded their heads. With their confirmation Kuro Usagi leapt at speed comparable to a jet taking flight and hopped after Izayoi.

"Wow," Asuka complimented while fixing her hair. "Kuro Usagi can be quite impressive."

"That's understatement," Jin said. "She's a part of Little Garden's Creator's household. She's very strong and possesses a number of Gifts."

Asuka nodded absentmindedly and turned to Jin. "Kuro Usagi told us to explore, so let's go ahead. Will you be our guide?"

"Eh, yes," Jin replied. "I am Jin Russell, the leader of this Community. I'm still 11 years old and I have a long way to go, but let's get along. May I also know your names?"

"I am Kudou Asuka," Asuka said. She then gestured towards Yo. "This girl right here is…"

"…Kasukabe Yo," Yo finished for her.

The trio then went inside past the Outer Gate with Asuka having a cheerful smile on her face.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—at the same time that was happening.

"Wow," Alice clasped her hands together while looking around. Makoto couldn't help but smile a bit. Despite the fact that Alice was an extremely powerful and sadistic individual, she was still a child.

They had snuck out of the group after reaching their destination to go sightseeing. He channelled Ongyo-ki's power to hide so that he can go without being noticed. Alice and Izanami were near him so he also cloaked them.

"I must admit, this place is quite beautiful," Izanami said. It was more beautiful than any of the artificial parks at the world they came from. Plus knowing that they weren't natural made it less impressive.

It was also better than Yomi. But then again, every place is better than Yomi

"Onii-chan!" Alice said as she grabbed on Makoto's arm and pointed at one of the food stands lined up. "Let's go buy some of those sweet buns!"

Makoto sighed. "We don't have any money Alice." He told the young girl which made her pout and look at him with upturned eyes. How cute, it actually makes him want to refuse more.

The shop clerk must have heard them, because he gave out a hearty laugh. "Don't worry about it," He said handing out one sweet bun. "I'll give you this one for free."

"Really!?" Alice said her eyes gleaming.

"Yes," the shop clerk smiled. "I can't refuse such a cute girl."

"Thank you so much mister!" Alice cheerfully took the sweet bun offered to her and took a bite. "It's so good!"

Makoto thanked the shop clerk and they resumed their exploration.

They had found themselves walking at the side of a river. Cherry blossom trees grew on the other side swayed by the gentle wind making the sight quite relaxing. It was also confusing though.

"Isn't it mid-winter?" Alice wondered. "Why are there cherry blossoms?"

"Perhaps because this is another world," Makoto theorized. "It wouldn't be a surprise if the seasons were different too."

Walking further, they spotted a shop, with a blue haired woman wearing a yukata sweeping the road. The shop had a blue banner which depicted two goddesses facing each other, something that Makoto remembered from Cana's stories.

 _[Thousand Eyes] huh?_

If he remembered correctly, it is an aggregation of communities with special a kind of [Eyes]. It is also massive mercantile Community which you can find in all corners of Little Garden.

"Good afternoon," the blue haired woman greeted them. "Do you have any business with us?"

"Ah, no" Makoto said. "We're new here to Little Garden and we were just exploring."

"New?" The blue haired woman asked. "You mean to say that you were just recently summoned here?"

"Yes," Izanami replied. She then felt a sudden chill. It felt like someone was watching her, and with perverted yes too. Alice must have felt, because she lightly hugged herself.

"New arrivals, huh?" A voice from inside the shop said. A small girl with white hair appeared. She wore black kimono-like clothes which complimented her beauty. Plastered on her face was a grin that almost reached her golden eyes, which shone brilliantly but had a tinge of perversion.

It seems that she is the cause of the chill Alice and Izanami felt.

"Yes," Makoto said. "I am Yuuki Makoto," he said gesturing towards himself. He then gestured to the two girls with him. "These two are my companions, Alice and Namie."

"I see!" the girl said with a smile. "I am Shiroyasha, one of the leaders of [Thousand Eyes], the community that owns this shop."

While Makoto politely bowed, the other two took a step back.

"But say," Shiroyasha said looking at him and then to his companions as if sizing them up. "Having two very beautiful girls accompany you, unnghh! I'm so jealous!"

Izanami and Alice took two more steps back while Makoto scratched the back of his head. "Haha…"

"Why don't you three come inside for a bit," Shiroyasha said gesturing for them to come.

"Is that really okay?" Makoto asked.

"Of course," Shiroyasaha reassured.

"Well then, if you'll excuse us," Makoto said as he politely bowed towards the shop clerk, who returned the gesture, and went inside, Alice and Izanami reluctantly following.

The courtyard was quite large, which isn't noticeable from the outside of the shop. There were also many masterpiece lined up behind a show window.

The room which they entered smelled of incenses. Shiroyasha sat at the seat of honor in the large room.

"So you three are new the new arrivals," Shiroyasha said. "I see, it does feel like you three are quite skilled."

"Thank you," Makoto replied. "But there are actually three more; we just snuck out of the group to go sightseeing."

"I see," Shiroyasha smiled. "Can I ask who summoned you?"

Just as Makoto was about to answer, Alice said. "A rabbit wearing perverted clothes."

Shiroyasha's eyes widened and gleamed, not the pretty kind of gleam but a gleam of perversion. Alice and Izanami once again shivered. "You mean Kuro Usagi!?"

Overwhelmed, Makoto simply nodded slowly.

Shiroyasha laughed wholeheartedly. "So Kuro Usagi was the one that summoned you. I understand."

Makoto tilted his head but chose not to press further.

"By the way, if there are some things you'd like to ask, ask away," Shiroyasha said.

"Hmmm," Makoto hummed placing his index finger and thumb on his chin. "I've been wondering about this for quite a while now."

"Hmm, what is it?"

"Well, you see…"

 **[Garden's Universe]**

Kuro Usagi felt like her day had zigzagged between good and bad, with it currently being in the bad. First she got harassed by the problem children, and then she learned how powerful Izayoi is, which would greatly help their [No Name] community, and then after getting back she learned that Asuka and Yo had picked up a fight with [Forest Garo].

And to top it all, the other three was still nowhere to be found.

 _Can this get any worse?_ Kuro Usagi thought to herself while clutching the water tree that Izayoi had won after beating the snake god. She looked up and saw the shop clerk taking down the signboard to end the day.

 _Aaah! Nooo! Jinxed it!_ Kuro Usagi gives the water tree to Yo and immediately runs up to the shop clerk. "W-wait!"

"Forgive me," the shop clerk bowed down apologetically. "We don't do after hour business."

"Wow, this shop seems that it lack the mercantile spirit," Asuka said crossing her arms.

"Y-yes! You shouldn't close your doors on a customer five minutes before closing!"

"If you want to complain, do it elsewhere. You are now banned."

"W-w-w-what!" Kuro Usagi cried out. "You can't just ban customers over something like this!"

The shop clerk narrowed her eyes. "I see, we can't just ignore a Higborn of Little Garden. Can I ask the name of your Community?"

Izayoi was about to step in the conversation when he heard a familiar voice.

"Thank you for entertaining my questions Shiroyasha-sama, it was truly helpful. Hmm, what's wrong?"

"This feeling…is Kuro Usagi!"

That was an unknown voice. It sounded like it belonged to a little girl.

Kuro Usagi looked towards the inside of the shop—

"Yaaaahooooo! It's been a long time, Kuro Usagiiii!"

"Kyaa—!"

—and was promptly tackled by a white haired girl in a kimono-like dress. The force sent them flying and spinning four times in the air and on to the other side of the road where they landed in the river with a large splash.

….

"Alice knew that that girl was trouble, Alice needs to be careful whenever she's around."

"Yes. I realized that a while ago, while she was trying to dress us up."

"Come on now, don't be like that. You two looked cute in those clothes."

"Really!? Then if Onii-chan likes it, the so does Alice!"

"I see...I was…cute?"

Coming from the inside the shop was the three missing people: Makoto, Alice, and Namie.

"Yo," Makoto greeted with a smile.

"Where were you three?" Asuka asked with a frown. She still couldn't get over that he managed to slip past her.

"Sightseeing," Makoto replied offhandedly.

"You couldn't have done that with us?" Asuksa said raising an eyebrow.

"Eh, I felt like I was going to get caught up in something if I did."

"What sharp intuition."

"By the way," Makoto said as he pointed towards the water tree in Yo's arms. "What's that?"

"It's a water tree that I won." Izayoi answered

"Where?"

"I won it the [Edge of the World] from a Serpent God in the Great Waterfall."

"Hmm I see, sounds interesting," Makoto said nodding.

"Sh-Shiroyasha-sama! That's enough!"

Oh, they forgot about those two.

Kuro Usagi tore off Shiroyasha by force and threw her towards the shop. She was heading towards Izayoi who stopped her using his foot.

"Goobah! Who the heck would use their foot to stop a beautiful girl!?"

"Izayoi-sama that's who. Let's get along white haired loli."

Kuro Usagi wrung her clothes while complaining. When she spotted Makoto and his companions, her hair turned to pink.

"Where have you three been!?" Kuro Usagi practically screamed the question. She was mad, definitely mad.

"Sightseeing," Makoto answered with a calm voice despite noticing how furious Kuro Usagi is.

"Ngggh! Well, getting angry now won't solve anything," Kuro Usagi sighed.

"Well then, goodbye," Makoto said walking away with Alice and Izanami in tow.

"W-wait," Kuro Usagi called out. "W-where are you three going?"

"Oh yeah, we haven't told you yet," Makoto said turning back to Kuro Usagi. She had a bad feeling of what's about to come.

"We're not joining your Community," Makoto said.

Time halts. Kuro Usagi is frozen.

"We're grateful to you for summoning us, but we won't be joining your Community," Makoto repeated

"P-please reconsider!" Kuro Usagi stammered. This is bad. They were going to lose some extremely powerful people. They might have Izayoi, but they need all the help they can get. "W-we really need your strength in our Community!"

"I know," Makoto said. "We heard from Shiroyasha-sama."

"Then—!"

"We're still not going to join."

Kuro Usagi had a look of despair so Asuka asked him in her place. "Why? It seems that you're already aware of the state that our Community is in, why are you not going to join us?"

"Because, I've already decided on what I'm going to do after arriving here."

Asuka gives him a questioning look and Makoto smiled.

"I'm going to create my own Community."

 **[Author's Note]**

 **Here's Chapter 2.**

 **I toyed with the idea of having Makoto join the [No Name] but it didn't seem right to me. So here: Makoto won't be joining [No Name] and instead will make a new Community.**

 **What should I name it though? Most of the Community names in canon have some sort of meaning or symbolism so I thought that the name of Makoto's Community should have some meaning. I have three names, but I can't seem to choose.**

 **1\. [0=FOOL] – The flag of the community would have the same symbol as the Fool Arcana Tarot Card.**

 **2\. [XXII=UNIVERSE] – Same with no. 1, but with the World Arcana instead.**

 **3\. [SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI] – the SMT Logo/Symbol**

 **Tell me which do you like best and I'll Use it.**

 **[Extra Chapter: Origins of the Self-Proclaimed Little Sister Part 1: Tale of the Little Sister's Tragic Death and Resurrection]**

There was a young girl. A young girl you can find anywhere. She had a nice blonde hair which was matched by her amber eye. Despite the fact that this girl was just a little girl you can find anywhere, she was beloved. Beloved by her parents, beloved by her grandparents, beloved by her uncles and aunties, beloved by her cousins, beloved by her teachers, beloved by her friends and—

Beloved by demons.

They adored her. They showered her with gifts, protected her from harm. They absolutely loved her and the innocent child loved them back.

And it was that love that destroyed her.

They gave her their power, not stopping to think about the consequences of handing a young child the power of demons.

She was driven insane by the power she received. Her life was ruined, and in the end she died a tragic death.

Or at least should have.

The overwhelming power resurrected her into a demon. Her eyes turned from amber to crimson. Her innocence became something dangerous.

Innocent sadism.

She used her power on people like how a kid would a magnifying glass on ants. She made people suffer in an innocent spree. "Please die for me," has become her catchphrase, which she used when she was inviting people to become her friends. She couldn't understand what was good and what was bad anymore.

Her two demon uncles, Belial and Nebiros, tried to do all that they can to help her, but they couldn't succeed. Now they can't help but just give into her whims and demands.

And so the young girl, Alice, became an absolute nightmare and the embodiment of a child's innocent sadism.


	4. The Community Formed!

**Chapter 03: The Community Formed!**

Makoto whistled a song while they walked around the [Edge of The World]. They were challenged by many [Mythical Beasts] but they dominated them like it was child's play.

"Onii-chan," Alice said with a tired face. She was bored, her posture said that much. Her shoulders were down and her eyes were half-opened. She couldn't find anything to pass time while they walked because the [Mythical Beasts] had become wary of them and decided not to challenge them anymore. "Are we there yet?"

"I don't know, but the Great Waterfall that Izayoi mentioned should be around here," Makoto replied talking off his black hoodie.

"How can you be sure?" Izanami said with a face clearly not amused.

"I'm currently channelling Medea's ability," Makoto replied.

"Oh, I see."

Medea was the persona of Yoshino Chidori, a member of STREGA and was also their equivalent of Fuuka. Medea can also search the area like Lucia and also pinpoint the Shadows' locations and as well as its weaknesses. Although her support abilities was weaker, she made up for that with some combat abilities unlike Juno who was a Persona entirely dedicated to support. Overall, Medea was equal to Penthesilea.

Walking a bit further, they arrived at an enormous riverbank. The river's current was extremely harsh at the moment and attempting to cross would only lead to demise.

"Come on," Makoto said. "Let's follow this river; it may take us to the Great Waterfall."

"Eh? More walking?" Alice complained. She wasn't that tired but she was getting sick of walking around and having nothing much to do. Why did those [Mythical Beasts] have to such cowards? They were [Mythical Beasts] for heaven's sake! The three of them were just….

An extremely sadistic young girl who had mastery over demonic arts as well as the power of [Madness]…

The Shinto goddess of the Underworld…

The Messiah who stopped the Fall and obtained the Universe…

…who can summon various gods, demons, angels, mythological beast/heroes, cryptids, spirits, characters from famous literary works, slightly different historical figures etc….

…and also use legendary weapons and artifacts such as Gungnir, Gae Bolg, Mjolnir, Excalibur, Masakado's katana, Laevatein, Deus Xiphos, Ryu-Ji-Bang, Ama-no-Ohabari, Muramasa, Yasaka-no-Magatama, Yata-no-Kagami etc….

…and have some extremely powerful spells in his arsenal; offensive, defensive or support….

…and had a strategic mind which was backed up by a genius like Cana…

…

…Okay, those [Mythical Beasts] were truly right in avoiding them but they didn't know about the three of them being those things!

They didn't get far when they spotted a woman holding her head. The woman had a long black hair held by a tri-colored flower pin. She wore a white kimono with floral patterns. She was truly quite the beauty.

But why was she crying?

"Damn him," the woman cried while still holding her head. "I'll never forgive that blonde brute!"

 _By blonde brute, does she mean Izayoi? How could she know Izayoi though?"_

Alice had a different train of thought though.

"What's the matter?" Alice called out causing the woman to turn around and face them. After seeing them, she quickly collected herself and tried to be presentable. "Did you get dumped by your man?"

"W-wha—" the woman stammered her cheeks turning red. "W-who are you three?!"

"I'm Yuuki Makoto," Makoto politely introduced himself and gestured towards the two girls by his side. "These two are…"

"Alice," Alice said happily as she grabbed the hems of her skirt and bowed.

"My name is Namie," Izanami introduced herself yet again using the nickname he gave her. Does she really like it that much?

"H-how long have you been here!?" The black-haired woman yelled. She must be embarrassed after being seen crying.

"Wow," Izanami said, her expression turning cold and full of disdain. Wow, she can really pull off the 'ice queen' look. "We introduced ourselves just like you asked to, but you can't even tell us your name, how discourteous."

"Grrrrr.." the woman gritted her teeth. It seems that she was really having a bad day. "Shirayuki-hime," she says. "Shirayuki-hime is my name."

"Hmm, that's a nice name," Makoto said placing his index and thumb on his chin and giving out a smile. "It fits someone as beautiful as you."

Makoto said that with honesty. He honestly believed that the woman was beautiful and he was very confident that many people would agree with him. Heck, Junpei might even drool if he saw her and Akihiko who rarely shows any interest in the opposite sex would've blushed at the sight of Shirayuki-hime.

"W-wha—" Shirayuki-hime stammered with a noticeable blush on her face. Under normal circumstances she would've handled compliments with grace but this time it was different. She was currently frustrated and vulnerable and as such can easily be flustered.

"Onii-chan," Alice said her eyes devoid of any light. While Izanami can pull off the 'ice queen' archetype, Alice can pull off the 'yandere' archetype perfectly. "Are you trying to rebuild your harem? You should stop. You don't need a harem when you have Alice."

"Once a gigolo, always a gigolo," Izanami says as she puts her hands on her hips and sighs loudly.

"By the way, Shirayuki-hime-san," Makoto said ignoring the comments from his two companions. "Can I ask you something?"

Shirayuki-hime simply nodded.

"Do you happen to know where the Serpent God is?" Makoto said looking around the river. "I heard that the Serpent God lived around this area."

Shirayuki-hime became quiet and Makoto was about to ask what was wrong when she stood straight and looked him in the eye. "What business do you have with me?"

"Eh?" The group was dumbfounded.

"I am the Serpent God that resides in this area."

Silence follows. Alice and Izanami blinks in surprise, but quickly recovered. After all, it was a goddess; they can always change their form.

"I see," Makoto grins it was quite out of place on Makoto's usually gentle features. "I guess there's some change of plans."

"Eh?" It was Shirayuki-hime's turn to be dumbfounded.

"I originally wanted to ask for a water tree like Izayoi's," Makoto said, grinning once again his eyes gleaming brightly. "But now, I've changed my mind."

Shirayuki-hime stares at him unable to see where he was going.

"I now want you in my Community!"

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—around the same time that that was happening; outside of the [Thousand Eyes] branch shop.

Kuro Usagi let out a sigh. They had managed to learn about the Gifts of the three and all of them had extremely powerful abilities, but she was still sad that Makoto, Alice, and Namie didn't join them.

"Cheer up Kuro Usagi," Asuka tried to lift her mood. It was a really nice gesture, after all they had all been problem children that had harassed Kuro Usagi since they arrived in Little Garden, but they are still good people. "You still have us. Who cares if we lose three people?"

"Yeah," Izayoi said confidently as he crossed his arms and grinned. "Ojou-sama is right, you have me here. I'm more than enough."

"Your overflowing arrogance is almost admirable," Asuka said with a straight face. How can one man be so arrogant?

"Thank you for the sarcastic compliment, Ojou-sama."

 _Aaaahhh~! Kuro Usagi can't be depressed now!_ Kuro Usagi nodded her head vigorously and said. "YES! As long as Izayoi-san is here we can win!"

"Sorry to say this but," Shiroyasha said, unfolding her fan and covering her mouth with it. "Losing those three is quite the great loss."

"Eh?" Kuro Usagi stared at the white-haired Star-class [Demon Lord]. "What do you mean Shiroyasha-sama?"

"Those people were very unique," She says. "They also had extremely powerful [Gifts]. If I were to give my honest opinion, their strength should be equal to 4 or 3 digit [Demon Lords]."

Kuro Usagi was so shocked that she was making a funny expression. If this was an anime, she would've been in chibified form.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—Back to Makoto and the others.

"I now want you in my Community!"

"E-eh…" Shirayuki-hime was dumbfounded.

"Onii-chan…" Alice said her eyes devoid of any light. Looking at it is like looking at abyss.

"Do we really need her?" Izanami asks looking at Makoto, her hands on her waist.

"We can't be a Community with just the three of us," He reasoned. "We need to recruit people."

Izanami grabbed his sleeve, pulled him close and whispered. "Can't you just summon the others?"

She was talking about his other Personas.

With the [Universe Arcana], he could now permanently summon his Personas into the real world, like how he did with Alice and Izanami. They also don't drain his strength anymore.

"Although I am planning on summoning them at one point, having a large amount of gods and deities in a single Community would attract a lot of unwanted attention. [Demon Lord] challenges might become a common occurrence for us," Makoto replied in a low voice.

"We'll just crush them Onii-chan," Alice butted in the conversation.

"Having too many [Demon Lords] after us may sound exciting at first, but after a while the constant challenge would start being irritating and tiring."

"Hmmm…I see your point," Izanami relented.

"Why should I join your Community?" Shirayuki-hime says while glaring at him. They had momentarily forgotten about her during their conversation,

"Well," Makoto said smiling as he placed his hands behind his head in a carefree manner. "We're a relatively new Community and we want members. There's also the fact that you're a water goddess so must be very strong."

Shirayuki-hime smiled. "Flattery won't get you anywhere but thanks anyway."

"Onii-chan, I don't think she's going to join us," Alice said pouting while pulling Makoto's sleeve. She seemed to be very displeased. "Let's just leave this old hag and find someone else."

Shirayuki-hime's eyebrows twitched. "What did you say?"

Alice seems to have hit a nerve. Alice grinned mischievously upon the realization and taunted. "Hag! I said you're an old hag!"

"W-why you—!" Shirayuki-hime's face turned red in anger. "I'm not a hag!"

"That's what all hags sa—mmph!" Once again Izanami place her hand on Alice's mouth to shut her up. It seems that the two get along quite well, they were in the same Arcana after all.

"Sorry for Alice's behaviour," Makoto said apologetically. "But I still want you in my Community." 

Shirayuki-hime narrowed her eyes, this guy won't be going home soon it seems. "Well I don't think you're just going to leave. Fine I'll join in the condition that you win this [Game]."

"Alright," Makoto said with confidence. "Prepare to join my Comminity, Shirayuki-hime!"

Shirayuki huffed. Kid was overconfident. Shirayuki was sure he wouldn't be able to clear the [Game] she was about to prepare.

"We'll see about that," She says as she turned back and started walking. "Come follow me."

She heard Alice complain over the distance.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

Shirayuki-hime had led them towards a waterfall on top what seems to be a mountain. It was quite a nice waterfall. The water was cascading at high speed. It could actually be a good spot for meditating.

"The [Game] will be held here," Shirayuki said as she turned to face them.

"Alright let's get started then!" Makoto said as he stretched some of his limbs. "I'll take on your [Game] on my own."

Shirayuki snapped her fingers and a piece of paper—a [Geass Roll]—appeared and fell onto Makoto's hand.

 **[GIFT GAME: The Dragon of the Waterfall]**

 **Participant(s):**

 **Yuuki Makoto**

 **Game Master: "The Lord of the Tritonis Falls", Shirayuki-hime**

 **Clear Condition(s):**

 ***Find the truth behind its identity and reveal the dragon of the waterfall***

 **Defeat Conditon(s):**

 ***The Participant(s) is unable to satisfy the condition(s) within one hour***

 **Oath: Based on the rules, the participant(s) of the Gift Game will be willing to bet the pride and flag of their respective community**

Makoto read the [Geass Scroll] twice before looking around the waterfall.

'Find the truth behind its identity and reveal the dragon of the waterfall'.

" _This game is—"_ Cana started.

"Too easy," Makoto finished. "Too easy it's almost insulting."

"Eh…?" Shirayuki was dumbfounded.

"There's one story that comes to mind when talking about dragons and waterfalls," Makoto explained as he looked at Shirayuki-hime. "It's the story of the Dragon's Gate."

"…"

"The Dragon's Gate was located at the top of a large waterfall located at the top of a mountain. Any carp that reaches the Dragon's Gate would become a dragon," Makoto said as he looked at Shirayuki with bored eyes. It's a Chinese proverb used to teach kids that hard work pays off."

"…" Shirayuki was silent. Hindsight 20/20 she should've figured out that that proverb was too popular to be the basis of a [Gift Game].

"Well," Makoto said challengingly. "Am I correct Shirayuki-hime-san?"

"…"

"Onii-chan," Alice asked. "Did you clear the [Game]?"

No she hasn't lost yet after all—

"I don't think so," Makoto said looking around. "I guess we need to have a carp become a dragon to clear this [Game], we don't need to look hard since there's already one there."

He pointed at the foot of the waterfall and sure enough there was a red carp.

Normally without someone granting it [Divinity], the carp wouldn't transform into a dragon even if it reached the top. However the carps here were special; they were carps created by bored gods so they should have at least some shred of [Divinity]. The carps here were sure to become dragons if they reached the top.

"So Mr. Carp needs to reach the top," Alice said as she looked at the red carp pathetically trying to swim up. "That would probably take forever and we only have one hour."

"True," Makoto confirms. "And we can't toss it up the waterfall since that doesn't count as swimming."

Shirayuki sighed in relief.

"But we can help it in other ways," Makoto said as he held out his hand towards the carp and Makoto's eyes glowed blue.

"Wha—!?" Shirayuki gasped.

Makoto was suddenly surrounded by a faint blue light. His hair gained a brighter color. Some particles of light floated around him like fireflies. You could feel power coming out him.

"Max Heat Raiser," Makoto said and the carp glowed. Suddenly the carp was swimming up the tall waterfall with no problem.

Max Heat Raiser was a stronger version of the spell Heat Raiser he created. While Heat Raiser does boost all of your capabilities, it doesn't last that long and if won't be much of a use if you were really, really weak like Mr. Carp. Max Heat Raiser, on the other hand, is like Heat Riser if it was spammed and stacked. While Max Heat Raiser's duration was a bit shorter it made up for the massive boost it gave.

"Wow! Look at Mr. Carp go! He's almost at the top," Alice exclaimed excitedly as she points towards the carp.

Indeed, the pathetic carp was way past midway and was now nearing the top of the waterfall. Shirayuki could only watch the spectacle with an open jaw.

Makoto leaned over and whispered to Shirayuki-hime. "I hope you remember your promise to join my Community."

The carp had reached the top of the waterfall. Suddenly the carp glowed and expanded. It gained horns and sharp looking claws. Its mouth grew a full set of vicious looking teeth. It also seems that the dragon had retained its color when it was a carp. Once the transformation was done, the dragon let out a triumphant roar that shook everything in the vicinity.

The dragon looked at him with gratitude. "I thank you for your assistance."

"It's nothing much," Makoto replied as he smiled at the dragon.

The dragon nodded. "When the time comes, I shall be the one to aid you."

And with that promise, the red dragon flew upwards towards an unknown destination.

"…" It seems that Shirayuki was still frozen. Makoto tried poking her cheeks for a reaction but he got nothing. Well, her cheeks were soft like marshmallow so poking her was quite worth it.

"I think she's broken," Izanami said as she also poked the Serpent Goddess's cheek. "But my, these cheeks are soft."

"Let Alice try too!" Alice cheerfully said. She poked Shirayuki's face at rapid pace like she was button mashing. "Wow! How soft! It's almost like a springy pudding!"

Izanami had stopped but Alice continued. Shirayuki's expression turned into an annoyed one and Alice, noticing this, continued to poke her cheek at a faster rate.

"Enough!" Shirayuki shouted in annoyance. Alice had a pleased expression on her face as she stopped poking the goddess's face.

"So Shirayuki-san," Makoto said as he held out his hand towards Shirayuki. "Welcome aboard."

Shirayuki looked at the hand before looking at Makoto. She then sighed in defeat. Clearing that [Game] was her condition and he cleared it. She should at least keep her end of the bargain.

And so she took the hand.

"Welcome to my Community Shirayuki," Makoto said with a welcoming smile, dropping all honorifics he had used earlier. "Welcome to [XXII: Universe]."

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"So," Shirayuki said as she followed the trio. "Where exactly is your Community?"

"Good question," Makoto said. "We haven't even built a place to stay."

Wait what?

"Y-you—" Shirayuki stammered as she pointed at him.

"We're a relatively new Community. The only thing we have is our name and banner," Makoto said as he showed her the blue flag.

The emblem of the flag was a man surrounded by twenty-one cards. Each cards had the numbers in it, from 0 to XX.

"Don't worry Shirayuki," Izanami said as she turned towards the water goddess. "We can make something like that in no time."

She then turned towards Makoto. "Or more specifically, Makoto can."

Shirayuki turned towards Makoto, who was looking around the area. It was a barren spot in the forest. The grass were overgrown but there were no trees in sight.

"This place will do," He said.

Before Shirayuki can ask, Makoto once again glowed only this time he was much brighter. There were more particles of blue light around him and his hair and clothes were rising a bit. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The world was engulfed by a bright light and Shirayuki was momentarily blinded. When her vision finally returned, she couldn't help but gasp at what she saw.

The once empty field now had a giant velvet blue mansion at its center. The mansion was quite large that it could be compared to a castle. There was a small garden by its side that grew different varieties of plants.

"Well," Shirayuki was snapped out of her amazement and turned towards Makoto. He was already at the entrance with Alice and Namie. He was looking at her as if he was waiting. "You coming or not?"

Shirayuki could only stare at him.

First he managed to give that carp the strength needed to reach the top of the waterfall, now he created a mansion with a snap of his fingers. One question was on her mind as she entered the mansion.

Just _who_ is this guy?

 **[Author's Note:]**

 **Here's a new chapter.**

 **I decided to use [XXI: Universe] because I suddenly realized: "Hey, the title's Garden's** _ **Universe**_ **". Sorry for those that wanted the [0: Fool] or [Shin Megami Tensei]. I also changed it into XXI rather than XXII because I remembered that Tarots start at Zero in the Persona series.**

 **Damn, I'm forgetting a lot of things lately.**

 **I also had Shirayuki join the [XXI: Universe] rather than [No Name] because I feel like she was just put there for some reason and then put to the sideline.**

 **For those wondering, Izanami's appearance is indeed based on Hades: Izanami's appearance. There's also a bit from Rubia Elstein.**

 **A new Persona shall also appear and join them on the next chapter. Who could it be, I wonder? Hint: It's one of the more popular Persona in the franchise.**

 **Hope you enjoyed.**

 **[Extra Chapter: Origins of the Self-Proclaimed Little Sister Part 2: Tale of the Little Sister's Life as a Demon]**

*sob**sob*

Alice cried as she held her raised knees and lied down the bed that her uncles got her. It was a large pink bed with many stuffed animals on it. Her room would cause envy to all the young girls in the world at how many plushies and toys decorated it. Her uncles truly loved her.

And yet the girl was extremely sad.

She was killed once again, this time by a boy wearing a bunny hoodie. What was his problem? She just wanted to have friends!

This is what always happened.

She just asks people to be her friends and they refuse her thoroughly and when she insists they kill her.

There was that space man. She just killed a rabbit and asked him to be her friend and then the man had the gall to kill her.

There was also that weird man, Kuzunoha was it. Grrrr! Just thinking about it made Alice super mad!

Why did nobody want to become friends with her?

*sob*

She just wanted a friend so why?

*sob**sob*

Alice continued to cry.

Belial and Nebiros were just outside the room listening to her cry. It pained them to hear the young girl cry. It made them want to kill the bastard who made her cry and they actually wanted to as well, but they were defeated by the bunny boy as well.

"Damn kid!" Belial growled, breathing fire. Literally. There where flames coming out of his nose and mouth. "How could we lose to those damn brats!?"

He was one of the 72 demons of the Goetia! He was the chief that leads 50 legions of demons! Not only was Alice crying right now, his pride was also badly damaged. How could he lose to some brat with a weird sense of humor!?

"Calm down," Nebiros chided him. He was also frustrated to hear Alice cry and as well as losing. He was the general of Hell after all, one of their greatest Necromancers too. "Getting angry won't help."

"But still—!"

*sob**sob*

Belial winced when he heard Alice cry harder.

"Come Belial," the count in black said walking away. "Let's try again and this time we'll succeed."

"Alright," the baron in red said walking after him. "Nothing will stop us from succeeding this time."

With that, the two demons disappeared.

Alice hugged her knees closer as she rolled over again and again. She wondered if she'll ever find someone to be her friend. Her uncles were nice and they gave her everything that she wanted, but she still wanted a friend.

She wouldn't gain a friend anytime in the future.

However, she will obtain something more.

But that's for another story.


	5. We received a Double Invitation

**Chapter 04: It Seems That We Have a Double Invitation**

"Hey," Izayoi said in annoyance as he tried to pry of the rabbit that clung to his waist. "I love the feeling of your body pressed to mine and all but come on, let me go Kuro Usagi."

"No!" The rabbit adamantly refused. "What do you mean challenge Makoto-san?! We still have our hands full with our own problems!"

"It's just a little spar," Izayoi said shrugging his shoulders. "I got pumped up a little when I heard that he was quite strong."

"I am interested as well to be honest," Asuka said.

"I am curious on what his abilities are," Yo nodded in agreement.

"You two focus on the mess that you started!" Kuro Usagi cried out. She was talking about the [Gift Game] against [Fores Garo]. If they win then that Community is destroyed and all of them would be forced to confess their crimes. If they lose then [Fores Garo] gets away with all of it scot free.

""Alright,"" the two girls said with a bored tone that made Kuro Usagi sigh deeply. They definitely weren't taking this seriously.

But to be honest, Kuro Usagi was also interested in the three's abilities. If they can rival a 4 or 3 digit [Demon Lord] then they must be extremely powerful.

The thought of how immensely powerful they are once again made Kuro Usagi depressed because they didn't join their Community.

"Are you seriously still upset?" Izayoi said as he felt Kuro Usagi's grip lessen. "There's a saying that rabbits die because of loneliness, but come on."

"Kuro Usagi can't help it," she said as her ears dropped.

"I told you, as long as the great Sakamaki Izayoi is here, there's nothing to worry about," Izayoi said with his usual arrogance. This time though, you could feel that he was reassuring Kuro Usagi.

Kuro Usagi was moved. She actually wanted to cry. They were good people despite being problem children.

"Well, I'm off to challenge Makoto."

"Yes!" Kuro Usagi said. "Go on— NO! Wait! Come back here!"

Good people yet they are still problem children.

 **[Garden' Universe]**

—[XXI: Universe] mansion; nighttime.

Shirayuki was at the terrace of the mansion as she couldn't sleep with all the things in her mind. She stared at the night sky. Her mind was wrapped around Makoto. She wasn't afraid of him, but she was curious on who he is.

He was also quite cute if she thought about it. She blushed when his face crossed her mind.

" _What the heck?! I just met him today!"_

Did he somehow have a passive [Gift] that charms people? Possible.

She lightly slapped both of her cheeks to clear her mind. Shirayuki decided to go towards the baths to relax.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[XXI: Universe] baths.

Shirayuki dipped her toes first before gently lowering her body to the warm water. Shirayuki let out a satisfied sigh as she soaked in the water. It was weird, where did this water come from? Most likely Makoto's doing again so she just let it slip her mind. He also probably wanted a water tree due to how he liked plants, as evident with the detailed the garden was.

Now that her mind was clearer, Shirayuki once again thought about Makoto. Who was he? Was he a possible demigod? Did he somehow had [Divinity] like her? Questions, questions. Her thought was interrupted by the sound of water.

"I didn't expect that you would be here, Shirayuki," a mature voice sounded. Shirayuki turned towards the source and saw Namie, who was dressed in a different shrine maiden outfit. Why the heck was she wearing that in the baths?

"Namie?" Shirayuki was as Namie went to the water. "Why are you here? And why are you wearing those in a bath?"

"The same as you," Namie said as she let out a sigh and closed her eyes. "As for the latter question, I don't want anyone to see my body."

"Why? Can't get married?" Shirayuki joked lightly. She hoped that Namie had a sense of humor though. She was always serious, in contrast to that brat Alice.

"In a sense. The real reason is because it's hideous."

Shirayuki wanted to ask about it but relented after seeing Namie's expression. It seems that it was a sore subject for her. The atmosphere was cold so Shirayuki decided to change the subject.

"What kind of guy is Makoto?" She asked.

"Kind," Namie replied and again the atmosphere turned cold. "Too kind for his own good."

"Can you elaborate?"

"He'll always jump and help those in need, even if they don't say it once he finds out that they need help he'll come running to do so despite the danger. There is also the fact that if he thinks you're a good person, he'll accept you no matter what," Namie said as she blew bubbles in the water. "It's kind of annoying really, though it is kind of weird that he didn't jump to help the [No Name]."

"He has a messiah complex?"

"No, because he _is_ a messiah."

"Eh?" Shirayuki was clueless. The look on Namie's face told her that if she wants to know she would have to ask Makoto himself.

The atmosphere was once again cold and this time Shirayuki couldn't find a new topic to discuss. It was partly her fault, as she probably stepped in some landmines. It seems that she would have to endure this.

"Hey," this time it was Namie who started the conversation.

"Y-yes?" Shirayuki said nervously. She didn't want to ruin the conversation again after all.

"Would you like to see my body?"

…...

"I-I'm not into those kinds of things," Shirayuki said as she turned away.

"I was joking," Namie said with a straight face.

' _You don't really look like you're joking,'_ Shirayuki almost said but she managed to catch herself.

"But," a splash resounded throughout the bath as Namie stood up. The wet shrine maiden outfit clung to her body highlighting her curves, a slight blush was on her face due to the warmth of the water, and her wet hair glistened slightly. The three of those combined made her look absolutely alluring. The image before Shirayuki was that of a goddess. "I could show you if you really wanted."

Shirayuki gulped. She wasn't attracted, she wasn't attracted, she wasn't attracted.

Namie grabbed her dress and it fell to the water slowly. Shirayuki's eyes widened.

"I told it was hideous," Namie said with a self-deprecating smile.

Her beautiful body was covered with what seems to be tattoos. They looked like centipedes crawling on her body and Shirayuki swore that she saw them move slightly.

"W-what?" came the feeble voice of Shirayuki.

"My name isn't really Namie," 'Namie' said. "It's just a nickname given to me by Makoto. My true name is Izanami."

Shirayuki felt that her eyes were about to pop with how wide they were.

"These tattoos are actually seals that keep my appearance and power," She said. "If these seals were released, I would return to my true appearance; that of a rotting corpse."

Izanami chuckled lightly. "Makoto actually didn't care about my appearance. I was actually the one who requested that he put these on my body."

Shirayuki was still silent prompting Izanami to continue. "Are you afraid? I would understand if you are, after all I am the Shinto Goddess of the Dead, the Yomotsu-Okami."

Shirayuki would be lying if she said she wasn't. The person before her was the ruler of Yomi, of course she'd be afraid. But she wondered why she revealed this information and thus she asked. "Why did you tell me this?"

"Because you're a part of this Community," Izanami said as she fixed her clothing. "Because Makoto considers you a comrade now."

"He's a really trusting person huh."

"Indeed he is. By the way, if you try to either harm or betray him, I will rip you to pieces."

"Yeah sure… wait what?"

Izanami said the threat with such nonchalance that Shirayuki replied naturally.

"Just as I said, I will rip you to pieces if you try to harm or betray Makoto." Izanami once again said the threat naturally. Her cold eyes felt like drills piercing Shirayuki. She looked really, _really_ scary, scarier than Alice even.

Seeing Shirayuki's scared expression, Izanami said. "Don't worry, I'll make it painless. I'm not like Alice who would drag on the suffering."

That isn't actually reassuring.

Izanami got out of the water. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Y-yeah."

"By the way," Izanami said as she turned back to Shirayuki. "Come to the basement tomorrow morning."

Shirayuki gave her a puzzled look but Izanami just walked away. Shirayuki sighed as she got out of the bath. She headed towards her room to sleep.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—Morning; [XXI: Universe] basement.

"So," Shirayuki said as she looked towards the two girls by her side. "What exactly is the occasion?"

She wasn't in a good mood. She was forced to wake up earlier than she expected, the method of waking her up was also source of her foul mood.

Namely, it was Alice drop kicking her in the stomach.

Then she found out that the designated time was an hour after she was woken up. Of course she would be in a foul mood.

"Onii-chan is about to summon a new member for our Community," Alice said as she lightly skipped around. She looked adorable, very adorable. How can such an adorable girl also be a brat?

"Summon?" Shirayuki asked obviously perplexed. She was new here after all.

"Yep," Alice replied happily as she continued to skip around. "Onii-chan is about to summon a new member. He's going to chant 'Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill! Repeat five times, but destroy each when filled—'"

"Alice that's the wrong chant," Izanami corrected Alice.

"Really? Alice thought Alice got it right."

"Could you stop referring to yourself in third-person?" Shirayuki said. She thought it was kind of immature and annoying.

"No can do," Alice said as she waved her finger in a dismissive manner. "Alice is a younger sister and younger sisters refer to themselves in third-person, so Alice will continue to refer to herself in third-person."

Who on earth told you that wrong information?

"Quiet you two," Izanami said as she interjected in the conversation. "Makoto is about to start."

Both Shirayuki and Alice shut up when she said that; Alice because she doesn't want to be a bother to her beloved Onii-chan while Shirayuki wanted to focus on the summoning, it might show some clues about Makoto after all.

Makoto stood in front of a giant magic circle. The circle was drawn by what seems to be glowing velvet paint. There was a mask which had the mark XXI in the center of the magic circle, was surrounded by the symbols, 0 to XX. Makoto took a deep breath raised his palm towards the circle.

Immediately the atmosphere began to change, the amount of raw power was staggering. The magic circle glowed and the basement felt like it was shaking. Makoto was surrounded by particles of light, dancing like fairies. Taking another deep breath, Makoto began to chant.

" **Thou art I, I art Thou,**

 **I call you forth from the Sea of Souls."**

The room began to shake harder. The pressure was enough to make a weak person faint or fall to their knees. Shirayuki was finding it hard to breathe while the other two looked no worse for wear.

" **By the power of the [Universe], I give you flesh and blood,**

 **Lend me your Power!"**

Makoto's eyes shined blue. The circle glowed brighter, so bright that it was like the sun has descended. Makoto says the last word to complete the ritual.

" **[Persona]!"**

A blinding light exploded within the basement. Shirayuki, and even Alice and Izanami, had to face away from the light. When the light faded and their sight returned, they saw a young man at the center of the magic circle, kneeling as he faced downward.

The man wore a black top hat and a dark red tuxedo. A cape hung on his back, fluttering despite the lack of wind with in the room. The man raised his head and everyone had a good look at his face.

He looked relatively young. His black hair was either curly or frizzy. His almost auburn eyes gleamed with confidence and mischief. He also wore a monocle on his left eye.

"Greetings," he said as he got up. He flashed them a confident smirk. "I am the legendary phantom thief, Arsene Lupin at your service." Arsene finished with a graceful bow yet the smirk was on his face was out of place.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—Nighttime, [XXI: Universe]

After filling in Arsene, Makoto decided to send him and Alice to the city to win some supplies in the local [Gift Games]. Alice was quite bummed that she has to be the one to accompany Arsene—especially since she didn't like Arsene's rather… disappointing personality when it comes to females—when she wanted to spend time with Makoto while Arsene was looking forward in participating in a [Game].

They returned with more supplies than he expected. Makoto hoped that the shops didn't lose hard but knowing Alice, they probably did.

Makoto currently sat in one of the benches in the garden. He was looking intently at the [Gift Card] given to him by Shiroyasha. He was in deep thought.

" _Is there something the matter?"_ Cana asks him.

" _Oh, nothing much,"_ Makoto replied. _"I was just thinking of something."_

" _?"_

" _I wonder if I can replicate these [Gift Cards], not for storing [Gifts] but for storing [Personas] instead."_

" _Why would you want to do that?"_

" _Well, maybe I could use it to help the [No Name], as a thank you for being summoned here and as well as an apology for not joining."_

" _Then why didn't you just join them then?"_

Was that a tinge of disappointment?

" _Are you still mad?"_

"… _just a bit upset."_

" _Just another word for mad."_

"…"

" _Sorry."_

" _It's okay,"_ Cana said. _"Though I did want to rejoin them, I won't force you."_

"Maybe," Makoto contemplated on another idea that came to his mind. "Just maybe, perhaps I could make you a new body and with that you can rejoin them."

He could perhaps make her a new body like he did with the others. He had the power of the [Universe] after all.

" _Thank you for the offer but I'm fine being inside you."_

"… _please don't phrase it like that."_

Cana only giggled in response.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—One month later; Little Garden marketplace

Living in Little Garden was going quite well. Things were going smoothly for them and they were making quite a name here. He was also successful with his first project (which he called [Persona Cards]) and he was already in a new one. He also heard some news about the [No Name] winning against a big time Community so it looked like they were doing quite well.

Makoto walked around the marketplace with the supplies he won in hand. Izanami was with him carrying the other bags. They also won some low class [Gifts].

"What should we get next?" Izanami said as she shifted the bags on her hands slightly.

Makoto pondered for a moment. The supplies they have was mostly food and some books. There were also some gems he won; he needed those for his experiment after all. "Nah, let's go home. I think we already got what we need."

"Hmmm—?" whatever she was going to say, she didn't continue it as she narrowed her eyes towards a nearby alleyway. "Makoto come with me for a bit."

The two of them headed towards the alleyway and as they got closer, they heard some groaning. Going in further, the two of them saw a man leaning on the wall. The man was rather handsome but his current appearance was unsightly. His clothes were ragged and dirty, his blonde hair was messed up that it looked like a bird's nest. There were bags around his eyes and he reeked of alcohol.

The man looked absolutely pathetic.

"Ummm, hey," Makoto said as he approached the man. The man turned towards Makoto, his eyes were dead. "You okay?"

"Makoto, he obviously isn't okay," Izanami sighed.

"Gee thanks, that comment was definitely welcome," Makoto deadpanned as he approached the man. He noticed a choker with gorgon design on his neck which strangely radiated power. It must be a [Gift]. "Do you need any help?" Makoto asked as he offered the man his hand. The man looked at his hand for a while before glaring at Makoto.

"Go away," the man growled as he slapped away Makoto's hand. "I don't need any help from you lot."

Izanami narrowed her eyes slightly and began to approach the drunkard. Makoto held up his right hand in a placating manner.

"You look like you need help."

"Are you deaf?" The man growled as he glared at Makoto. He looked like a model picture for a barbarian. "I said I don't need—*cough**cough*!" The man coughed like a broken engine until he fainted.

Makoto looked at the man before looking at Izanami. Izanami sighed. "I'm not carrying him."

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[XXI: Universe]; guest room.

Laius woke up seeing an unfamiliar ceiling. Raising his body he glanced around the room. It was well decorated, the plants, blue flowers to be exact, were well taken care of and the velvet blue furnitures were neatly arranged. The walls were velvet blue and had some dark blue highlights.

The one who decorated this room must have loved the color.

How did he get here? His memory was quite hazy due to being drunk at the time. He did hear some voices. Did they bring him here? He wasn't sure because he probably made them scram.

The sound of the door opening brought Laius out of his thoughts. He turned and saw a blue haired young man. He wore a black and purple hoodie, the hood having what seems to be ears or something; whatever it was, it was pointed. His blue hair covered his right eye while the other was left untouched, revealing a silver left eye.

"So you're awake," Makoto said as fixed his hair and Laius caught a glimpse of green right eye. It seems he had heterochromia. "How are you feeling?"

Laius didn't answer and the kid took the empty seat near the bed. He looked at Laius with analyzing eyes that made the older male uncomfortable. "Hmm, I see."

"It seems that you're the leader [Perseus], the one who lost to the [No Name]," Makoto said. "I heard about it around the city."

"…" Laius didn't answer. The news of [Perseus]'s fall must have traveled fast. "Where am I?"

"In my Community, [XXI: Universe]. We're new here in Little Garden," Makoto answered. "I'm Yuuki Makoto by the way. I'm the leader of this Community."

"A newbie Community? Even the fledglings know of our failure huh," Laius said with a self-deprecating tone.

"…" Makoto had his eyes closed. "You're free to stay here if you want."

"…Just go away, I don't need pity from a kid."

"…If you say so," Makoto stood up and walked towards the door. As he was halfway out he turned back towards Laius. "I won't pretend that I understand how you feel, but the [No Name] probably felt what you're feeling right now when they were attacked by the [Demon Lords]."

Laius didn't answer.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[XXI: Universe]; Makoto's workshop.

" _What's wrong Cana?"_ Makoto asked the woman. She's quite irritated, angry even, with Laius.

" _You read his memories correct? If so you already know why. And I'd also like to know why you're still keeping him here."_

Makoto sighed. He did read Laius's memories, it's one of the perks of having the [Universe], and he was quite disappointed with what he saw.

" _Doing that kind of thing to Leticia, how dare he,"_ Cana voice was calm but it was as cold as Cocytus. _"I can't believe that he became the leader of the great [Perseus]."_

" _Now, now,"_ Makoto tried to calm her down. It was quite out of character for Cana to act like this. _"I know he was a scum before, but I think that he's seeing the errors of his ways now."_

When he looked at Laius, he saw that the older male was full of regret. Whether it was because his Community was destroyed or if it was because he lost sight of himself or maybe a combination of those two, but Laius was genuinely lamenting the fall of his Community

" _He better, by the way you never answered why you decided to let him stay."_

" _He's not going to stay here for free,"_ Makoto replied as he went on with his work. _"He's going to be the one testing these."_

It was his new project, dubbed [Skill Gems]. They were gems containing his spells, the physical and support ones to be precise.

He got the idea from those magatamas from his journey as well as his Skill Cards. While they were a great help, magatamas were only a one time use item. Skill Cards on the other hand, while they were of unlimited use, lacked practicality when it comes to physical skills.

After all, how can you punch with God Hand when you're clutching a card in your hand? Junpei didn't consider that and got whacked as a result.

" _Why are you making those anyway? You can just use your abilities directly, you don't need those items."_

" _I honestly don't know myself. I just thought about making them on a whim. Perhaps we could use them as prizes when we host a [Gift Game] or maybe even as Chips."_

" _Sometimes, you really amaze me with your whimsical decisions .I honestly feel like I'm your voice of reason."_

" _You may be right,"_ Makoto admitted. _"But hey, my crazy decisions saved my ass a couple of times in my journey."_

He fondly remembered the battles with the Full Moon Shadows and Floor Bosses. All of his plans were absolutely crazy that Mitsuru contemplated on taking away his position as field leader.

Good times.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[XXI: Universe] guest room, nighttime.

Laius stared at the ceiling with a blank look in his eyes all day. He didn't know what he was going to do with his life anymore. He's fallen to rock bottom and he didn't know if he could still come back up.

"Good evening," Laius looked towards the door and saw a rather flashy man. A top hat, a tuxedo, a monocle, and a cape? Seriously? The man absolutely looked ridiculous. "I am Arsene Lupin and I have been tasked to bring you food."

The phantom thief of Maurice Leblanc's novels? Laius didn't remember Arsene Lupin looking like this. Laius looked at the tray in Arsene's hands, the food looked exquisite yet Laius didn't feel hungry.

Arsene placed the food on the table beside Laius. "Makoto himself prepared that meal. Well actually, he's the one who always prepare our meal so it isn't actually special."

"I'm not hungry. I'm not accepting anything from you lot."

"You're our guest, now please do act like one and accept our hospitality."

"I didn't ask for your hospitality."

"And we didn't ask you to be a prideful jackass, so I do feel like we're even."

"You have a rather sharp tongue," Laius growled, irritated. "Need help cutting it off?"

"No thanks," Arsene smirked, amused. "But I noticed that you have a rather dull mind. Would you mind if we sharpen it?"

"Well you're—"

"Alright, that's enough with the homoerotic foe yay subtext," Makoto groaned as he walked inside, scratching the back of his head. He should've expected this, especially since Arsene was someone who definitely wouldn't get along with Laius.

"What do you mean by that?" Laius growled. What homoerotic subtext?

"My, I didn't know you swung—" Arsene began.

"Arsene, stop," Makoto interrupted.

"Haha," Arsene said with a smirk as he shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry. I guess I got a little too carried away," Arsene got up and headed outside of the room. "I'll be taking my leave here. It was nice meeting to you Laius-san," Arsene said before pausing. "Actually, no. Not really."

Makoto sighed. "Sorry about his attitude."

"…" Laius kept giving him the silent treatment. Makoto sighed.

"Eat, you'll need it for tomorrow," He ordered. "Also wear these; your former attire was dirty and reeked of alcohol." He added as he placed a set of clothes on the table. It was a black long-sleeved coat.

Laius looked at him questioningly so Makoto elaborated. "Tomorrow, I'll have you do something for me so prepare yourself. You're free to refuse and leave if you want to but if you accept…"

Makoto looked at him with a glint in his eyes. "I'll give you power."

"I don't need it," Laius said as he reached to his neck only to widen his eyes when he grabbed air. "I have—wait! Where is it?! Where is Algol?!""

Algol was missing. He always kept it with him. It was [Perseus]'s most prized weapon. Could it be that it was stolen?!

"If you're talking about that necklace of yours," Makoto said as he pulled out a familiar item. "Don't worry I have it right here."

"Give it back!" Laius cried out as he reached for Makoto.

"No," Makoto said firmly. Laius was taken aback with his tone and shrank back a bit. "I believe that this is the reason on why you are quite disappointing. I'll be taking this."

Makoto looked at the necklace for a bit. This was the [Demon King], Algol. Interesting. "I also have some plans for this thing."

"Algol belongs to [Perseus]!" Laius growled. "She is eternally bound to us!"

"Eternally bound?" Makoto "Hmph, we'll see about that."

"What do you mean?" Laius asked.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with," Makoto said as he placed Algol back to his pocket. "As I said, you're free to refuse my request and leave, but Algol will stay with me."

Makoto walked out of the room. Laius gritted his teeth.

 _Damn it! He probably planned for this!_

The odds weren't on his side to begin with. If he decided to refuse and leave, he'll lose Algol. He could try to steal Algol back, but he had a gut feeling that he won't succeed.

 _Alright! I'll accept that brat's request!_

Laius's stomach churned. He was hungry. He looked at the food brought to him and promptly devoured it in a flash.

On a side note, the food was absolutely delicious. The brat was quite the chef.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—Morning, [XXI: Universe] battleground.

Makoto was already at there when Laius arrived. On the spectator's side were two beautiful women, a blonde little girl, and that Arsene. Laius made a mental note to get back at Arsene later.

"You've arrived earlier than I expected," Makoto said. He held a glove and a bracelet embedded with gems of different types. Those gems also seemed to give off some sort of power that Laius didn't recognize. "That's good."

"Yeah," Laius said as he reached the opposite side of the field. "What's this request about?"

"It's simple, you'll battle against me."

"What?"

"As I said, you'll battle against me," Makoto repeated as he tossed the glove and bracelet to Laius. "Put those on, you'll need them."

Laius looked at them for a bit, unsure. He then shrugged his shoulders and put them on. He felt a bit of power when he wore them. Strange, what are these things? [Gifts]?

"Alright," Makoto said as he summoned a katana from thin air. The katana looked strange. There were unreadable markings on it that glowed slightly. "Come at me whenever you're ready."

"Isn't this unfair?" Laius complained. He didn't like the idea of fighting a kid who wielded a katana, even if has older and more experienced. "You have a weapon and I'm unarmed."

"That glove and bracelet are your weapons," Makoto replied. "You'll know when we start."

Makoto takes a stance and all traces of his carefree nature vanished within an instance. It was replaced with that of a merciless warrior. His only visible eye sharpened and had an analytical look in them.

Laius gulped. It appears that he's going to have a bad time.

Makoto approached Laius with unbelievable speed. The head of [Perseus] barely had time to react as the blade went for his torso. Twisting his body, he managed to dodge the strike. However, Makoto had already followed up with a kick and Laius was sent flying.

"Guah!" Laius groaned as he slammed to a wall, dust flying everywhere. The kid was good, almost as monstrous as that blonde brat. Information flooded his head as he slowly rose up. The names of the skills contained within each gem flowed into his mind.

 _Deathbound_

 _God Hand_

 _Holy Strike_

 _Calibrate_

 _Gouki's Water Wall_

 _Diarama_

The gems also told him what they did. Laius smiled.

"Calibrate!" Laius called out and immediately green aura surrounded him and he felt the world go slower.

No he was faster.

Laius kicked the ground and charged at Makoto. It was Laius turn for a blitz. Laius covered the distance between him and Makoto in an instant, his arm ready for a punch.

"Holy Strike!"

Laius's fist glowed brightly. The Almighty power coursed to his knuckles as he delivered a punch to Makoto who responded with a diagonal slash, intercepting the strike. The blows connected. The blade failed to slash Laius's fist. An explosion echoes throughout the field. The spectators shifts slightly and protected their faces from the dust.

The battle continued.

And it was in Makoto's favor.

"Kh!?" Laius gritted his teeth. Makoto was like a force of nature, unrelenting and merciless. Each strike was meant to crush. He didn't let Laius get any breathing room and the older male was only able to keep up due to Calibrate, the rather resilient clothes he was given, and Gouki's Water Wall, which raised his endurance.

"Deathbound!" Laius unleashed a flurry of strikes, all of which Makoto deflected with his blade. Makoto proceeded to make a wide arc slash and Laius jumps away to avoid it.

The shockwave blew him away though.

"Gah!" Laius plants his foot to the ground to stop himself from being blown away further. Makoto was already at him, prepared to strike him. Laius crosses his arms to defend himself. Sword meets arm, but the sword doesn't cut arm. The blunt force of metal though, still hurts. The ground where the older male stood was shattered promptly. Dust and rocks flew.

"Eat this!" Makoto yells as he kicked Laius's chin. The kick was powerful enough to send Laius off the ground.

It didn't stop there.

Makoto jumps up and kicks Laius's stomach and used him as a makeshift surfboard. The older male felt the skins on his back slowly ripped away by friction. Makoto stomps on his abdomen as he jumps off of him, creating a large crater in the wake of rocks and dust.

Does he not care that he's basically damaging his own property?

"*cough**cough*!" Laius coughed as he groggily stood up. He was beaten and bruised not to mention he was also coughing up blood while his opponent looked no worse for wear. He casts Diarama on himself and healed his wounds yet the pain wasn't completely gone.

"Is that all you got? I heard that [Perseus] was a big shot, but I didn't think that their leader is this pathetic," Makoto taunted. He was completely relaxed; he wasn't even taking the fight seriously. He was looking down on him.

The look on his eyes reminded Laius of Izayoi.

No, actually it reminded him of…

…Himself.

Laius felt anger flow within him. The rage fueled him up. He hated those eyes. Those eyes reminded Laius of himself. It reminded him of the one who made [Perseus] fell, the one who lost sight of who he was, and the one who lost sight of his ideals.

It reminded him of how much of a failure he was.

"Stop looking at me…," Laius growled. Rage was evident in his eyes. "…WITH THOSE GODDAMN EYES!"

Makoto smiled a bit. It seems Laius was mad. That's good. This is what he was aiming for. He needed to do this to make Laius open his eyes. Or fully open it.

" _You can be really cruel you know,"_ Cana commented. _"You're rubbing his failure to his face."_

" _I may have the best intentions, but I am still a closet sadist,"_ Makoto admitted.

" _To say that with such a docile face, truly we can't judge a book by its cover,"_ if Cana had a body, she might be smiling wryly right now.

Laius charged at him. His fist was glowing. Holy Strike. He was slower. Calibrate has run out. Zenki's waterfall had also most likely lost its effect meaning that he might lose be losing an arm soon.

And yet he charged.

No.

He moved forward.

He turned his back away. Away from whom he was before. Away from the hedonistic man who didn't care about anyone but himself. Away from the failure called Laius.

The two clashed and a deafening explosion followed.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—Nighttime, [XXI: Universe] guest room.

Laius slowly opened his eyes. He was back in the guest room. Dinner sat by his side on the table. Makoto sat on a chair near the corner as he read a book. Makoto noticed him and closed the book he was reading.

"Oh, it seems you're awake," Makoto said as he placed the book on his lap. It was a story book. What? Laius isn't a child for you to lull to sleep with a story book. Is this kid picking a fight? Well, if he was he would probably win; the sparring match was an example of that. "You were out cold for the whole day."

' _No shit,'_ Laius bit back the reply before it came out of his mouth.

"You performed admirably," Makoto said. Getting curb-stomped was admirable? Does this kid have a low standard when it comes to combat prowess or was he being sarcastic? "And as I said, I'll give you power if you do."

Makoto gestured towards the glove and bracelet that were on a table beside him. "Those are yours now."

"What about Algol?"

"I told you I'm keeping her. It's for your own good," Makoto said as he held out Algol. He was looking at it with an expression that Laius couldn't quite read. He looked like a scientist that was about to perform a new experiment. "I have plans for Algol too."

"What?"

"You were too drunk with her power. I believe that Algol was probably the reason you fell." Makoto explained as he opened the book once again and began to read. "As for my plans for her, that's a secret."

Laius was silent. He actually made sense. Laius didn't rely on his own strength but on the sheer power of the Divine class spirit. The former Celestial class spirit was strong despite the fact that she was weakened. Her true form was actually capable of matching Shiroyasha and Queen Halloween.

But what could he be planning with Algol?

"How are you feeling now by the way?"

"Fine, but my body still hurts," Laius said. His back was covered in cuts due to being used as a human surfboard, his abdomen hurts because it was used as a makeshift trampoline, his arms were fractured, his fist was broken, and it was painful to move his jaw. The kid was absolutely brutal.

Funny thing is; kid was probably holding back.

Laius shuddered slightly at the thought of the kid's full power.

Makoto stoop up. "I'll leave you alone so you can get some more rest as well as sort out your thoughts."

Laius was silent as Makoto went out.

This time, it wasn't out of pride and spite but because he was sorting out his thoughts.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[XXI: Universe] Makoto's workshop.

"You're not working on another project again, are you?" Izanami said with a scolding tone, similar to how a mother would scold her child for misbehaving or how a wife would tell her husband to take a rest. She placed a cup of coffee beside him as she sat on an empty seat. "You're working too much you know?"

"This isn't actually a new project," Makoto replied. He was sewing. It was a hobby of his. Right now he had an almost finished teddy bear. He's been also working on this when he had free time. "I'm just making a teddy bear. I can't just sit around and do nothing."

"Then why do I feel something from that teddy bear?" Izanami said.

' _You can't hide anything from your wife,'_ Cana teased.

' _She isn't my wife.'_ Makoto replied. Cana liked to tease him sometimes, especially about his chuunibyou days. The two of them could go and search the other's memories when they liked and Cana just so happened to come across his old shame. He buried the memories of his time as the Silver-Eyed Demon King who scorches the Earth with his Mystic Right Eye deeper in the recesses of his mind. _'And she's married to Izanagi.'_

'Was _married,'_ Cana corrected. _'Their marriage ended when Izanagi broke his promise not to look at her and then ran away when he did so. Then he sealed the entrance to Yomi with a giant rock.'_

' _Still not my wife though.'_

' _Not yet,'_ Makoto chose to ignore that.

"Having another conversation with the woman in your mind I see," Izanami's words brought him out of his mental talk. Izanami looked at the teddy bear. "That teddy bear looks awfully a lot like Bugs."

Makoto smiled a bit. "You caught me."

The teddy bear he was making was Bugs or more commonly known as Bugbear or Boogeyman. The monster used to make children stop misbehaving in the same vein as Alice.

"No skulls inside I suppose," Izanami asked.

"…of course."

"What's with that pause?"

"I was just messing with you," Makoto chuckled. "I assure you there's not a single skull inside. One hundred percent guaranteed."

"If you say so, I don't particularly care," Izanami shrugged. "I take it that that's for Alice."

"Yeah, do you want one too?"

"No."

"How about a Jack Frost doll then?"

"…still no," Izanami turned away.

Makoto smiled a bit. "Okay."

Jack Frost doll it is then.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—Next Day, [XXI: Universe]

Makoto was tending the garden when he felt a presence. Turning around he saw a long haired girl. The girl wore what seems to be a battle dress, almost the same as that one character from that one visual novel. She wore her hair in a ponytail and on her waist was a sabre. Her most distinctive feature was that she wore a mask to cover her face.

She stared at him.

He stared back.

A staring contest it seems.

"So," Makoto decided to break the silence. "Who are you and what are you doing here trespassing?"

"I am Faceless," the girl, Faceless, introduced herself. "I did not mean to trespass, I am here to—"

"Hey Onii-chan, Alice and Shirayuki found this letter from—" Alice came up running and paused when she saw Faceless. Shirayuki followed Alice and stiffened when she saw the masked young lady.

"Onii-chan, who is that person?" Alice said as she looked at Faceless.

"This is—" Makoto was interrupted by a sudden yelp from Shirayuki.

"Q-[Queen's Knight]!?" Shirayuki stammers as she looks at Faceless. It was understandable; this person is Queen Halloween's favourite subject and also one of the more powerful beings in Little Garden.

"[Queen's Knight]?" Alice and Makoto looked at her questioningly.

"Yes," Faceless answers. "I am a subject of Queen Halloween and I am here to deliver a message from her."

"A message?" Makoto asks.

"Yes, the Queen would like to meet with you Yuuki Makoto."

"When?"

"Today if possible."

"Where?"

"Underwood," Faceless replies. "Do not worry your expenses traveling would be covered by the Queen."

"Hmm…" Makoto places his hand on his chin. Certainly he wasn't that busy so he could probably make some time.

"Alice believes that we are going to have a problem with the schedule," Alice interrupts his thoughts. Alice holds out a paper with the stamp of [Thousand Eyes]. "We were invited by Shiroyasha to this festival. It's going to be held at the Community [Salamandra]."

Makoto takes the letter and reads the contents. There were going to be art exhibits by ghosts and spirits of the Northern District. Not only that, many Gift Games to be hosted.

It seems like a fun festival.

"I wouldn't ignore the Queen's summon," Faceless says. "She might hunt down you and your bloodline."

How scary.

Makoto closes ponders a bit. He's heard about Queen Halloween, she was one of the [Three Great Problem Children] of Little Garden. She was also quite well known. This would be a great opportunity for them. On the other hand, he was in good terms with Shiroyasha. [Thousand Eyes] has also been a great help to them.

Makoto opens his eyes. "Alright, I've thought of something. Gather everyone including Laius."

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[XXI: Universe] second guest room.

They were gathered around a table. Faceless sat directly on the opposite of Makoto.

"What is your decision?" Faceless inquires.

"I'll meet with the Queen," Makoto answers.

"What about Shiroyasha's invitation?" Alice asks.

"I'm the only one that the Queen wants to meet, isn't that right?"

"That is correct," Faceless nods.

"Then I'll go to the Queen and you guys go to [Salamandra]," Makoto declares. "Since I'm the only one she wants to meet then it is okay for me to meet her alon—."

"No," Izanami cut him off.

"?" Everyone looks at her with a questioning look.

"It would be dangerous if you go alone," Izanami answers. She shot Faceless an accusatory glare. "We don't even know what this Queen Halloween would want with you, who's to say that this isn't a trap."

She had a point there, but there was still the risk of getting the Queen's ire. A thought crossed Makoto's mind.

"Then how about this," Makoto says and was made the center of attention. "We'll split up. Namie, Shirayuki, and I would go to [Underwood] while Alice, Arsene, and Laius would go to [Salamandra]."

""Understood,"" Namie and Arsene said.

"Okay," Shirayuki says although a bit unsure.

"Hold on," Laius cuts in. "When did I become a part of this Community?"

"You're not," Makoto clarifies. "But I wouldn't want to leave you here since you _aren't_ a part of [XXI: Universe]."

"Wait a minute," Alice says. "Alice wants to go with Onii-chan!"

"No," Makoto replies making Alice pout. How cute, very cute, super cute. "I don't want to be rude with you Alice, but you aren't exactly the type to handle conversations well."

"You'd probably end up saying some unkind things to Queen Halloween," Namie added as she gave an agreeing nod.

"A-Alice will try her best!" The younger girl protested as she banged her hands on the table..

"Sorry Alice, I'll make it up to you next time," Makoto said apologetically.

"Really?"

"Really, really."

"Okay then!" Alice's mood immediately brightened. "I'll hold you on to that promise Onii-chan!"

Makoto smiled. "Yeah don't worry, I'll keep that promise," he looked at everyone. "So, got any more objections?"

"Just one question," Shirayuki says as she raised her hand. "Who's going to defend this place?"

"Don't worry I got that covered," Makoto reassured. "This place has many defenders."

Shirayuki has a puzzled look on her face. Not counting Laius, they only had five people in this Community. Those said members were also going to be away leaving no one in charge. She looked at Makoto who just gave out a smile that says 'don't worry, it'll be fine'.

"So," Arsene says. "How exactly is our group going to [Salamandra]?"

"Just go ask Shiroyasha," Makoto said offhandedly. "I'm pretty sure she'll do something about that."

"Alright," Makoto says as he stood up the rest of the people in the table following the action. "Now then, let's go."

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"Wait a minute Alice," Makoto calls out to the self-proclaimed younger sister.

"What is it Onii-chan?" Alice says as she turns around. "Have you changed your mind about not letting Alice come with you?"

"No that not it," Makoto sighed. He pulled out something from his pocket and hands it over to Alice. "Give that to the leader of [No Name] when you see them."

"Are they even going to be there?" Alice tilts her head with a puzzled expression. Damn that maximized her cuteness.

"Since Shiroyasha gave us an invitation, she probably handed them one as well," Makoto replied. "And knowing those problem children, they'll probably find a way to go to [Salamandra]."

"Okay!" Alice replied enthusiastically. "Alice will make sure to hand this to the [No Name] leader."

"Alright then, take care," Makoto smiles as Alice goes to her group.

"You take care as well Onii-chan!" Alice smiles as she waved back to him.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—Somewhere, in an unknown place.

"So, you guys ready?"

"Don't address us so casually, I'll destroy you."

"Oh, come on."

"Well the time is near for the attack on [Salamandra]."

"What about the other Community, [XXI: Universe]? They did split up. One group is going to the Queen while the others are going to [Salamandra]. I also heard that they took in [Perseus]'s leader."

"[Orient's Pearl] will take care of that."

"A double attack, huh? Where will I be going?"

"To [Salamandra], you'll be with [Grimm Grimoire, Hamelin]. [Orient's Pearl] doesn't like you after all."

"It doesn't mean that we like you though."

"Ouch, I'm unwelcomed everywhere. Why am I always rejected?"

"Do you remember what you did to the last group that you were in? Because of you, they all went berserk and killed each other. You should be grateful that we're still putting up with you."

"Well that's because my ability is quite unique."

"Yes, you are right. If it wasn't I would've killed you a long time ago."

"You talk big Weser but you know what they say, small dogs are all bark. I would've thought of you as a Pomeranian but you lack the cuteness."

"Why you—"

"Both of you; stop it. We're not here to rip apart each other's throats. If you continue to bicker, I'll deal with you personally."

""Forgive us.""

"Well then, now that that is settled, all of you are dismissed."

 **[Author's Note]**

 **Here's a new chapter, would probably be my longest one too.**

 **Sorry if the fight scene was anti-climactic, it was my first time writing one. Also sorry for those who want faster updates but the best I can do right now is a monthly one at best and two-to-three months at worst, especially since my internet is down (I'm posting this from an internet cafe). When work comes down, it comes down hard, Atlus hard. I'm also re-reading Mondaiji and Last Embryo to refresh my knowledge.**

 **Arsene has arrived, kudos to those who guessed correctly.**

 **I changed how Skill Cards and magatama work in canon. While they were like TMs in the games, Skill Cards here are used to cast the spell. For example: Yukari wants to cast an Agidyne, which her Persona doesn't learn, she can pull out an Agidyne Skill Card and use that to cast the spell. Magatamas has fixed output damage in the game, but here it's just as powerful as the spell they were based on.**

 **Laius will be a temporary guest of [XXI: Universe]. If you want him to stay, I'll consider it.**

 **What could Makoto be planning with Algol? T'is a mystery.**

 **And who's this extra person in [Grimm Grimoire, Hamelin]? Hmm…feel free to guess but I won't give out a hint. The only thing is that he/she isn't an OC.**

 **By the way, Makoto's hoodie is based on Black Frost. I want a Black Frost hoodie too, hee-ho.**

 **Hope you enjoyed.**

 **[Extra Chapter: Origins of the Self-Proclaimed Little Sister Part 3: The Tale of how She Became the Little Sister]**

"This is…" Makoto said as he looked at the little girl in front of him. The girl had blonde hair and red eyes. She wore a purple dress. Her skin was like porcelain, and she had a delicate appearance that you fear that you might break her if you aren't careful. "…Alice?"

He had gotten the Personas he needed to fuse to grant Elizabeth's request, the Persona Alice that knows the Megido spell.

Igor chuckled lightly. "Yes indeed. The young girl in front of you is the Persona Alice. She has many origins, the most well-known being the story _Alice in Wonderland_ but there is also the story of a young girl who died a tragic death due to the love of the demons. She will be a great help on your journey."

Makoto could just barely make out what he said. Makoto just stared at the young girl and she stared back. He could see how empty she was and could feel that she had suffered so much.

"Ah yes," Elizabeth said cheerfully. "It seems that Alice knows the spell Megido. Thank you for your hard work. Here is your reward."

He took the reward silently as Alice disappeared.

"Is something the matter Makoto-sama?" Elizabeth asked. "You seem troubled."

"Ah no, it's nothing," he replied as he went towards the exit. "I'll see guys later."

The two must have said something but he didn't hear them

 **[Extra]**

"Makoto-kun, its weakness is darkness," Fuuka's voice echoes in Makoto's ears. He immediately searches the Personas he had to see which had Dark skills. Alice had the high level dark spell Please Die For Me. He immediately puts the Evoker to his head.

"Alice!" he called out as he pulled the trigger. The young girl appeared twirling and pointing her slender finger to the enemies.

"Would you all please die for me?" with those words, card soldiers suddenly appeared from the sky impaling all Shadows in their way, mercilessly destroying them. With the deed done, Alice disappeared.

"Man that was awesome!" Junpei said with a grin. He patted him in the back. "You really saved our asses out there."

"Yeah," Yukari agreed. "Thank you. We couldn't even make a dent."

Makoto just nodded but his thoughts were far away. When he summoned Alice, she had a sad expression before casting the spell. Why did she have such a sad expression?

The team continued their exploration of Tartarus, killing any Shadows that came their way. He had summoned Alice at least once or twice, and when he summoned her, she always had the sad expression on her face.

They reached the end of the section. The staircase was blocked by another fence. He quickly took the document at the briefcase for Elizabeth's request for he was running low on money, equipment and his daily expenses didn't come for free after all.

They left the tower and went back to the dorms to rest. The others slept soundly but Makoto couldn't sleep. He'd always see Alice's sad face when he closed his eyes. He felt like he couldn't leave her alone. How ironic, when he first arrived here he wouldn't have given a damn about other people but now he couldn't just leave them alone. Spending time with friends must have had a great impact on him. He was no longer the apathetic teenager who'd stare death in the face and just turn away like it was never there.

He got up from bed and grabbed his Evoker, took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

Alice appeared. Her golden hair flowing as she descended, her dress fluttering as she slowly as she touched the ground. She stared at him with her red eyes and he stared back.

Now that he had a good look at her up close, she was pretty cute.

"Why have you summoned Alice?" she asks.

"I wanted to chat," Makoto responded.

"No one's ever summoned Alice for that," Alice said a bit surprised. The people who had summoned her once had only used for battle and when she wasn't useful anymore they just used her as fusion material.

"Well allow me to be the first then," Makoto smiled.

"You're weird," she had decided. "What do you want to talk about?"

He scratched the back of his head. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea on how to her. She was different from the other girls that he had once spoken to. She wasn't an ordinary girl but a Persona.

"If you don't need anything else, Alice will be leaving," Alice says.

"Wait," He called out. "Why do you always look sad when I summon you?"

Feeling the concern in his voice, Alice tilted her head. This was the first time someone other than her uncles had shown her concern so she answered. She told him what she had to go through in life. How she came to be Alice. How she had been killed more than a dozen times. How her uncles loved her.

"People always reject my offer to become friends," Alice says as she looked down. She had sat down beside him without her realizing it. "Why?"

"You don't tell people to die if you want to be their friend," Makoto replied.

Alice tilted her head once again. She doesn't understand. "But if they don't die, they can't become my friends."

He sighed. "Dying scares a lot of people. Even if they wished for it, they'd be afraid if death's at their door ready to reap their souls. You could say that they were afraid of you."

"If they don't want to die, then will Alice stay friendless forever?" Alice was sad. She wanted friends. May be she had her uncles but she wanted more. Call her greedy but she had always wanted more.

"Probably," Makoto didn't mince his words and answered as brutally honest as possible.

Alice looked sad. "Won't you be my friend?" she looked at him with pleading eyes. He didn't want to turn her down but he didn't want to die even if he could just send her back to the [Sea of Souls] and never summon her again if she attempted to kill him.

How to not hurt her without dying? He mulled over a variety of ways. A light bulb.

"Sorry, but I can't be your friend," He told her. Alice looked away saddened. He sat out of the bed, got on one knee, and placed a hand on her head. She looked at him surprised and he smiled at her. "But I can be your big brother."

"Big brother?" Alice asked confused.

"Yeah," he nodded. "You said that if they want to become your friend, they'd have to die, yes? But become your big brother doesn't require dying right? So I'll become your big brother."

It was a stupid excuse, he knew that. 10 out of 10 would've called him an idiot, he knew that. That was a just lame idea that he came up with because he always wanted a little sister when he was young. He did have a cousin that he treated like a sister, but she was his cousin so she didn't count.

He would understand if she called him out for being a moron. He would understand if she told him how stupid of an excuse that was. He would even understand if she attacked him, but he didn't care.

The lonely girl wanted companionship and he would give her that.

Alice's eyes were wide. "R-really?"

"Really," Makoto said reassuringly. "And to be honest, I always wanted a little sister."

Alice suddenly hugged him. She was light, extremely so.

She didn't say anything. She cried in happiness. He felt tears on his shoulder. Who knew Personas could shed tears?

Makoto hugged her back.


	6. Trouble Brews

**Chapter 05:** **It Seems that Trouble Brews Wherever They Go**

 **[Chapter 05 – Side:** **Salamandra]**

 **[Garden's Universe]**

Alice happily hums as she skipped around as she, Arsene, and Laius walked towards the [Thousand Eyes] shop. She was going to have some fun at the [Rise of the Dragon] festival and when her beloved Onii-chan gets back, he'll spend so much time with her.

Alice, the self-proclaimed younger sister, is currently happy, very happy. A very sharp contrast to the look displayed on Laius's face.

"What's wrong Lui-Lui?" Alice asks as she turns back to the older male. The older male was looking down to the ground, had slumped shoulders, and was walking at a slow pace. He was obviously not looking forward to going to [Thousand Eyes].

"Don't call me that, you brat," Laius grumbled. He remembered some of the torments he suffered from Alice on the way. The brat was cute, but she was still a brat.

"He's probably too ashamed to show his face," Arsene mocked as he smirked. "Of course, if I too would be ashamed if I had his face."

"I would be more ashamed if I wore the same wore the same clothes as you," Laius retorted. "Did you pick that by closing your eyes and pointing randomly at your closet?"

"Wha—?!" Arsene looked offended. "These clothes are extremely stylish! Not that I would expect style from someone like you."

"Perhaps if you lost the stupid looking cape, monocle, and top hat," Laius countered.

"What did—" Arsene started but Alice cuts him off.

"He has a point, Ar-san," Alice commented. "You look stupid in those clothes. To be honest, Alice feels embarrassed just by being seen with you."

The phantom thief's face was etched with betrayal while the former leader's face broke into a smug grin.

"Hah!" [Perseus]'s former leader gloated triumphantly. Finally someone agreed with him, even if it was Alice the brat. "In your face, Arsene!"

"Et tu, Alice?" the legendary phantom thief was stunned. Alice actually agreed with Laius. And worse, it was about his stylish clothes. "How could you, you traitor?!"

"Admit it Arsene," Laius smugly gloated. "You look like an idiot in those clothes."

"I only _look_ like an idiot," Arsene retorted. "Unlike you, who _is_ an authentic idiot."

The two continued to banter until they were in front of a familiar shop. The blue haired shopkeeper was there sweeping away the fallen leaves.

"Shopkeeper-san!" Alice called out causing the woman to stop sweeping the front. The woman turned and walked towards them.

"Do you have business with us?" The shopkeeper asked Alice. She then saw Laius and glared at him. "And why is that man with you?"

"He's a temporary guest in our Community. We took him in due to Onii-chan's compassionate heart," Alice said. "Is Shiroyasha in?"

The shopkeeper was about to answer when Arsene came up to her, took her hand, and kissed the back of it. "Hello milady, we meet yet again."

"Oh so you're here too, you lecher," the shopkeeper said in disgust as she pulled away. Alice sighed as she remembered a certain incident. Arsene had flirted with the shopkeeper on the first day they met. The shopkeeper was flattered and attracted at first. Then she saw him flirt with every girl he met like a scumbag causing the shopkeeper to be jealous and heartbroken so the shopkeeper had ended up hating Arsene.

"To be called a lecher and to hear it from you, my darling," Arsene said as he holds his heart in a dramatic gesture. "You wound my heart."

"Good to know," the shopkeeper deadpanned. "Now die."

"That's not how you should treat customers," a familiar voice sounded from the shop. White haired kimono loli Shiroyasha steps out and appears in full glory. Her signature smile was on her face but as soon as she saw Laius, every drop of cheerfulness vanished. "What are you doing here, Laius?"

Laius flinched a bit at Shiroyasha's gaze. He started sweating a bit as the Star-class [Demon Lord] looked at him with a steely glare. He couldn't find his voice to answer the question.

"Lui-Lui is currently a guest of [XXI: Universe]," Alice answers for him.

"There shouldn't be a reason to bring him with you then," Shiroyasha said.

"Onii-chan didn't want to leave him alone in our home," Alice replied. "Onii-chan decided that he would go with us to [Salamandra]."

"Hmm I see, although I don't like it," Shiroyasha closes her eyes and covers her mouth with her fan. She opens her eyes once again and looks around. "Where is the lad? He, Shirayuki, and Namie don't seem to be with you."

"Due to some circumstances, Makoto, Shirayuki, and Namie weren't able to come with us," Arsene said.

"?" Shiroyasha had a puzzled look on her face.

"Some person named Queen Halloween wanted to meet with Onii-chan," Alice huffed. She didn't like the Queen, despite not meeting her. She and her beloved Onii-chan could've spent some time together eating crepes and enjoying the [Rise of the Dragon] festival but due to the Queen wanting to meet with him, that didn't happen. "Onii-chan wanted to go alone at first but due to Namie's reasoning, she and Shi-chan came along with Onii-chan."

The moment she said the name Queen Halloween, both the shopkeeper and Shiroyasha's eyes widened.

"What did you say? Queen Halloween?" Shiroyasha asked cautiously and Alice nodded her head. Shiroyasha clicked her tongue. "That woman…what could she be planning?"

"Is there something wrong, Shiroyasha-sama?" Arsene asks.

"Oh, it's nothing," Shiroyasha said with a strained smile as she closes her fan. She looks at Alice and placed her hand on her chin. "But I must say Alice, those clothes really compliment you."

"Really?" Alice said. She was wearing a different set of clothes. Instead of a purple dress, she wore a frilly black and white dress. A red ribbon was on her neck and her hat also had a ribbon. Her doll shoes had been replaced with black boots with heels, making her look taller than she is. She looked like one of those European Gothic Lolita porcelain dolls. She was simply adorable. She then spun around so that Shiroyasha could take a better look. Shiroyasha nearly had a heart attack due to the cuteness overload. "Thank you! Onii-chan made it himself."

Indeed, the dress was made by none other than Makoto. The young man had created the perfect dress that would maximize Alice's cuteness. And not only that, the fabric was enchanted so that it could protect the wearer. It was also easy to move in.

"Hmm yes. Impressive indeed," Shiroyasha grinned as she calmed herself. The kid is very dangerous. "The young man not only has some good taste but he also has some great craftsmanship to back it up. I should get his help when I make some clothes for Kuro Usagi."

Shiroyasha let out a perverted giggle which made Alice and the shopkeeper back away slowly. Shiroyasha then turns to Arsene and frowns. "You, on the other hand, should probably change clothes."

"What _is_ wrong with my clothes? They are perfectly stylish!" Arsene said exasperated. He wore a maroon dress shirt as well as a black waistcoat covered by a bright red coat. He also had a white tie on his neck. His hands were covered by black gloves. He wore a black pants and black shoes. A red cape fluttered behind him as the wind blew. A top hat rested on his head and he had a monocle on his eye.

"It isn't that bad but it is too eye-catching," Shiroyasha said. She covers her eyes a bit. "And it is also hard to look at. The bright colors might blind someone."

"Ugh, fine," Arsene snapped his finger and the top hat, coat, and, cape. All he was left was the maroon dress shirt, black waistcoat, white tie, black gloves, and monocle. He looked like a bartender. "How's this?"

"A lot better," Shiroyasha said nodding. She turns to the shop and gestures towards them. "Now come in. You people probably want to go to [Salamandra], but how about a little chat first?"

The three nodded and went inside. Alice bowed to the shopkeeper while Arsene winked at her, which earned him her disgust once again. Laius just turned away.

On a side note on the topic of clothes, Laius wore simple clothes. A white shirt covered with by black jacket. He wore jeans and rubber shoes. His chocker was gone replaced with a cross necklace. His right hand wore a jeweled glove containing the offensive spells while his left hand had a bracelet which had his buffs. He looked like a plain, ordinary civilian, not the leader of [Perseus].

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—inside the [Thousand Eyes] shop.

"I must say that I'm impressed with you people," Shiroyasha said. The kimono loli sat at in front of the three as she drank the tea they were served. "Despite being a new Community as well as having only five members, [XXI: Universe] has made quite a name here in the East."

[XXI: Universe] was gaining fame fast in the East. They were being considered a prodigy despite having only five members. There were also some people who had expressed their desire to join the rookie Community.

"Thank you!" Alice happily replied. "It's all thanks to Onii-chan! Onii-chan is the best!"

Shiroyasha nodded. She acknowledged the lad's talent. He was unlike anyone she's seen before. The potential he had was not something to be laughed at. It was something to be expected from someone who can possibly stand equal grounds with someone from the upper floors.

There was also the possibility that he can change the very nature and laws of Little Garden itself. Shiroyasha, despite being the strongest [Floor Master], would not like to have him as her enemy.

"I must ask you," Shiroyasha started as she covers her mouth with her fan. "Does your Community plan on rising up to the upper levels?"

"Un!" Alice said, nodding cheerfully. "Onii-chan said that he feels like our Community isn't ready yet right now, but we are planning on getting to the upper levels in the future."

"Hmm," Shiroyasha said nodding. "With your abilities, getting to the upper levels wouldn't be a challenge. You don't even have to wait long; you can probably take on the [Gift Game] now."

"Yes _, probably,_ " Alice emphasized. "Onii-chan said that we shouldn't take chances and be at our best when we do."

"He's cautious," Shiroyasha nodded. "That's good."

"Umm, excuse me," Arsene said raising his hand. "The only thing that was explained to me was the basics of [Gift Games] and Little Garden. Can someone explain what are they are talking about?"

"They are talking about your Community moving up to the upper levels of Little Garden," Laius explained. "Little Garden has seven levels. Numbers are assigned to each [Gate] of those levels; the lower the number, the higher the strength of those residing in it. The seventh, where we currently are, and the sixth are the lower levels, the fifth is the middle level, and the fourth and above are the upper levels."

"For a Community to rise up to a higher level, they would have to clear a [Gift Game] hosted by a [Floor Master]," Shiroyasha continued. "A [Gift Game] hosted by a [Floor Master] is extremely difficult and it might take a month or year clearing it."

Arsene nodded, having understood and absorbed the information. He then looked at Laius. "For an idiot, you know a lot."

"I know that because I've lived here for years," Laius sighed. "My Community was at the fifth level before its fall."

Laius had a self-deprecating tone that Arsene didn't have the heart to make another jab at him. It seems that Laius still hasn't gotten over the fall of [Perseus].

Shiroyasha then noticed something about Laius. "Laius," Shiroyasha says gaining the attention of the former head of [Perseus]. "Where is Algol? I thought that she was always with you?"

"You see…" Laius rubbed the back of his head. "That kid, Makoto, took Algol. He said he had some plans for her. What those plans are, I don't know."

Shiroyasha placed a hand on her chin. Algol was a former Celestial-class spirit. Not only that, she was also capable of matching her and Halloween in terms of power. Algol's power is still formidable even after she was sealed. What could the lad be planning? A thought crosses her mind but she shakes it away. No, that isn't possible…or is it?

She shudders at the thought of Algol being unsealed and restored to her original form. She could almost hear Algol say her catchphrase: 'Al-chan is a super beauty'. Hearing that catchphrase always made Shiroyasha want to kill something. Shiroyasha didn't want to go back to the days where she cried herself to sleep.

A ruckus lured Shiroyasha away from her thoughts. It seems that the rude shopkeeper is arguing with someone.

"Hmm?" Shiroyasha frowned and closed her fan. She looks outside and sighed. "It seems that there is a commotion outside," the kimono loli stood up and walk outside. "I'll just check it and be right back."

Without Shiroyasha, the three of them sat in silence. Laius was lamenting about the fall of his Community, Arsene was lamenting that there wasn't a pretty girl in sight, and Alice was lamenting that her beloved Onii-chan wasn't here.

"Thank you for having us Shiroyasha-sama," a young boy with green hair wearing a robe to large said. He immediately paused when he saw that the room wasn't empty and as well as a certain someone was there.

"What's the matter Jin-kun?" Asuka said as she placed her hand on Jin's shoulder. She looks around and saw two familiar faces, one of which she wished wouldn't see again, and an unknown person. Her eyes narrowed as she looks at Laius. "I'm impressed that you have the guts to show yourself here, you cretin."

"Ho?" Izayoi said as he followed Asuka with Yo and a young two-tailed fox girl right behind him. On his face was his signature sardonic grin. He arrogantly smirks at Laius. "I thought I crushed you."

Laius gritted his teeth. He was about to lash out when Alice pulls him back and gives him a glare. The glare was super scary that Laius lost his anger and it was replaced by fear. Alice isn't someone you should mess around with. Shiroyasha sighed as she enters the room once again and sat in her seat. "Now now, let's not have any fights in here. It would be a pain to clean this place. I won't be the one to clean it but I might lose face if I just let this place be destroyed."

The three members of [XXI: Universe] moved to the left side of the room while the [No Name] sat at the right facing them.

"So," Asuka began. Her gaze was fixed on Laius. Saying that she didn't like the man was understatement, she absolutely hated him. Especially with how he treated Leticia and almost coerced Kuro Usagi into being his plaything. "Why is the cretin here?"

"Onii-chan found him in an alleyway looking pathetic so Onii-chan took him in," Alice said. "Alice thinks that Onii-chan is too soft but Alice likes that about him."

"My goodness, does he not know what kind of a cretin he is sheltering?" Asuka sighed.

"Hey!" Laius protested.

"Makoto probably knows and he probably doesn't care either," Arsene replied. He gives a charming smile to Asuka and Yo. "Now I do believe that this is our first time meeting so allow me to introduce myself, I am Arsene Lupin at your service."

"Ho?" Izayoi said, his eyes glinted with interest. "Like the legendary phantom thief of Maurice Leblanc's novels?"

"Not _like_ boy," Arsene smirked. "I _am_ the legendary phantom thief."

"Interesting," Izayoi grinned with a glint on his eyes. "I'm Sakamaki Izayoi."

"My name is Kudou Asuka," Asuka smiled.

"Kasukabe Yo," Yo said with an indifferent expression.

"I'm Lily!" The young fox girl said.

"Jin Russell," Jin said as he gestures towards himself. "I'm 11 years old and also the leader of the [No Name]."

"Ehhh?" Alice said as she brings her face closer to Jin's. The young boy backed away with a blush on his face but Alice pressed further. "You're the leader of [No Name]? But aren't you too young to be the leader of a Community?"

"Haha…" Jin let out a nervous laugh as he tried looked away to hide the blush on his face. Alice was close, extremely so. In fact, their faces were so close that their noses are almost touching. He looked at the others for help but to his dismay, Izayoi and Asuka had a teasing smirk on their face, Yo had a small smile, and Lily had an unreadable expression which unnerved him a bit.

"Ochibi-sama's a charmer eh," Izayoi said in a teasing tone.

"I did not expect that from you Jin-kun," Asuka also teased him.

"Please don't joke around," Jin sighed.

"Ah!" Alice said she hits her palm. She drew out a dark blue card from her dress and hands it to Jin. "Onii-chan told Alice to give this to the leader of [No Name]."

Jin takes the card and looks at it. The card had a design of a character he didn't recognize. The words [Jack Series] were also written bellow the face. It radiated some kind of power and it felt a bit cold to touch. It was a [Gift], he was sure of it.

"That's something that Onii-chan made himself," Alice said. Her face was still close to Jin's. "Isn't Onii-chan great?"

"Y-yeah," Jin said. He looks away shyly again. "U-umm, you're too close by the way."

Alice blinked rapidly in surprise and backed away. "Haha, Alice is sorry about that. Alice didn't realize."

Alice sits back on her seat and smiles to Jin. Jin blushes, something that wasn't missed by Izayoi and Asuka.

"Has springtime arrived for our Ochibi-sama?" Izayoi smirked as he teased Jin.

"They grow up so fast," Asuka fakes a sob as she wipes out non-existent tears from her eyes.

Jin could only sigh at the antics of the two. He looks at Alice and apologizes. "I'm sorry for those two."

"It is fine," Alice smiles. "Alice doesn't mind."

"Thanks Alice-san," Jin also smiled.

"Ahem," Shiroyasha clears her throat. She looks at the members of the [No Name] Community. "Before we go to the main topic I'd like to ask you something, Jin-dono. After you defeated [Fores Garo], there's been a rumor that you people are out to challenge [Demon Lords]. Is that true?"

"Wha—" Laius's eyes widened. The calamities known as [Demon Lords] are known as the worst disaster in Little Garden. They were extremely powerful and only a few could challenge them. To think that a [No Name] Community would challenge them, it was ridiculous.

In contrast to Laius, Arsene had an amused expression while Alice looked like she heard Shiroyasha say there was free ice cream.

"It is," Asuka said like she was stating that the weather was nice.

"I see," Shiroyasha turned to face Jin. "As the leader of the [No Name], do agree with the rumors, Jin-dono?"

"Yes," Jin said with resolution in his eyes. "Due to our Community's [Name] and [Flag] being forcefully taken away from us, to make our Community well known, I believe that this is the course of action."

"This is very dangerous," Shiroyasha said with a steely gaze. Jin did not falter in her gaze. "You're aware that you'll be targeted by the [Demon Lords] due to these rumors, are you?"

"I am aware of the consequences," Jin said firmly. "But due to our current situation, we won't be able to advance to the upper levels. Since we can't attack them directly, we'll have to attract them to us."

"Even the [Demon Lords] that had nothing to do with this, will you still fight them?"

Izayoi let out a laugh. "We'll challenge the [Demon Lords], fight the [Demon Lords], and defeat the [Demon Lords]. Rinse and repeat."

Izayoi laughed but his eyes showed that he was serious. Despite the fact that the young man didn't look like he was serious thought into this, he was most likely the one who is most serious about fighting the [Demon Lords].

"So Jin-kun's Community will battle against the [Demon Lords]," Alice said. "That's quite brave of Jin-kun. Alice is very impressed."

"T-thanks," Jin blushed again.

"Since you've made up your mind, I won't pry any further," Shiroyasha said. "I'd also like to get to the main topic."

Shiroyasha looks at the leader of [No Name] who did not once falter in her gaze. "I'd like to officially commission the Community that wishes to fight the [Demon Lords]. Do you accept, Jin-dono?"

"Y-yes! I accept it!"

"You have our support Jin-kun!" Alice said enthusiastically and held his hands. "If you ever need help, don't hesitate to ask us!"

"Un," Jin blushed and smiled. He was glad that they had the support of the most famous rookie Community.

Izayoi looks at Alice as she separate her hands with Jin's and grins. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask this. What exactly does your Community do?"

Alice tilts her head and looked upwards as she placed her index finger on her chin. Head tilt with a wondering expression. Alice knew how to up her cuteness even further. "Well, we are still making our Community known by winning lots and lots of [Gift Games] but Onii-chan occasionally makes things."

"What kind of things?" Asuka inquires.

"Anything," Alice said. "Onii-chan usually does things on whims but the things he creates are very useful and powerful." She places her hand on her chest. "For example, these clothes are made by Onii-chan. They aren't ordinary clothes as they basically protect Alice from anything."

"Ho?"

"Not only that, he can create various types of [Gifts] like the gems in Lui-Lui's bracelet and gloves, which allows Lui-Lui to gain different kinds of abilities!" Alice said proudly as she puffed her chest. "Onii-chan is the best!"

"Interesting," Izayoi said with a glint on his eyes. He getting more and more pumped up. He wanted to challenge Makoto.

"Indeed," it was Shiroyasha that said that. She gathers the attention of everyone except Arsene and Alice. "If I were to ever step down as [Floor Master], I'd consider him as a potential successor."

Needless to say, everyone was shocked as Shiroyasha herself, the strongest [Floor Master], was the one who stated the fact. Their eyes were wide, except Izayoi who had a look of excitement on his face. Alice smiles proudly and Arsene smirks at the dropped jaws.

"On the topic of [Floor Masters]," Shiroyasha said. "Did you know that the Northern Floor will have a new [Floor Master]?"

"Eh?"

"The current [Floor Master] has retired due to an illness. Being an Asian dragon, she has lived for quite a while now so this unexpected. The festival is actually to inaugurate the new Northern [Floor Master]."

"Dragon," Izayoi and Kasukabe perked up at the word dragon.

"How much do you know about the [Floor Masters]?"

"None," said Arsene, Asuka, and Yo.

"A bit," Alice said.

"They're the ones that defend the lower digit Communities of Little Garden right?" Izayoi followed up.

Jin nodded and began explaining.

"[Floor Masters] are the protectors of Little Garden. Not only that, they also promote or watch the Communities grow.

They also had many responsibilities. They host [Gift Games] which will determine if the Community is strong enough to rise up to a higher level and other stuff.

If a [Demon Lord] were to appear and wreak havoc, [Floor Masters] has to take initiative and fight them. They were given huge rights as well as the privilege of [Host Master Authority].

The Northern District has a lot of spirits and ghost, who possesses a huge amount of strength. It is a land where co-existence with demons was acknowledged. As you can see, the security isn't exactly stable."

Jin slouched down, seemingly disheartened.

"We used to have a good relationship with [Salamandra]… but I had no idea that the leadership has been passed down. Is Sala-sama the new head? Or is Mandora-dono the one?"

"Neither. The new leader is the youngest, Sandora."

"Eh?" Jin looked like he was punched in the face while Lily's jaws dropped. "S-Sandora? Eh, wait a minute! She's only 11 years old!"

"Aren't you 11 years old too, Jin-kun?" Asuka said.

"Y-you may be right…"

"What is it? Is this Sandora Ochibi-sama's girlfriend?" Izayoi smirked.

"N-no! It's not like that! P-please don't say such rude things."

"To think that Jin-kun flirted with Alice despite having a girlfriend," Alice teased while wiping out fake tears. "Alice can't believe that he's just like Ar-san."

"E-even you, Alice-san?!"

Asuka, Alice, and Izayoi teased Jin. Jin angrily replied to Asuka and Izayoi but was flustered with Alice. Yo, who did not join the teasing, urged Shiroyasha to continue.

"The [Rise of the Dragon Festival also doubles as time for Sandora's debut as a [Floor Master]. Due to her age I, as the Eastern [Floor Master], would collaborate this with her."

"Hmm?" Izayoi narrowed his eyes as he smirks. "There are many that have power in the Northern District right?"

Alice nodded, following the direction where Izayoi was going. "Why didn't they just ask the other Communities?"

"That is…"

"They don't want someone so young to be in charge?"

"…that is correct."

Asuka looked displeased. "…even in this world there are people who has that mindset."

"You can't blame them, Asuka-chan," Alice said gaining the attention of the former heir. "Putting your faith onto a child isn't something that is easy. Especially if said child is only in the early stages of puberty."

"You are right about that," Shiroyasha said solemnly. "That is why they asked for my assistance instead. It's easier to have me collaborate than someone who could be scheming."

As Shiroyasha opened her mouth, Yo suddenly had a realization. "Wait, how long is this going to last?"

"Hmm? An hour or so, I believe."

"This is bad…" Yo had a serious face. Alice thought it was comical for the usually deadpan Yo to have such a serious face. "Kuro Usagi would be able to catch us if we continue."

And there's the punch line.

"?!" The problem children and Jin had an expression of realization.

Jin looked like he was about to say something but was quickly silenced by Asuka. Izayoi immediately urged Shiroyasha. "Quick, Shiroyasha! Take us to the Northern District now!"

"Eh? Are you accepting the conditions without listening to it?"

"It doesn't matter! Let's discus this later! Besides it's more fun this way!"

It seems that the problem children did something bothersome. Perhaps they pranked Kuro Usagi. Alice didn't care though. She would've pranked Kuro Usagi too so she decided to join the problem children. "Yeah Shiroyasha," Alice said. "Alice also wants to start exploring [Salamandra]."

"I'd like to see the beauties they have there," Arsene smirked. That was the truth. Arsene didn't care about having fun in the festival. Instead he only had his mind in seeing beautiful girls.

Shiroyasha laughed. "Fun, huh? Then this takes priority! Fun is what I need to survive so I got no choice!"

Jin struggled to speak. It was futile. Shiroyasha smiled and clapped her hands.

"Alright we have arrived in the Northern District."

Izayoi and the other [No Name] had confused expression while the members of [XXI: Universe] stood up and went to the exit. Laius reluctantly got up and followed Arsene and Alice.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[Salamandra]

The best word to describe the Northern District would be red. There was a red wall, a flame motif. The city also seemed to be made of glass. Alice regrets not bringing a baseball bat.

Arsene rubbed his chin slightly. He could feel it. There were many valuable things displayed here. Oh if only Makoto allowed him to do what he does best, stealing. Perhaps he should disobey him this one time since it was a special occasion but Makoto probably wouldn't let him off the hook if he did.

Well, it seems that leaves stealing the hearts of maidens as the only option.

"That wall is pretty big," Alice said. The wall was extremely tall, 80 feet in her estimation. It was also red. "Was it built to protect people from the Titans?"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Laius replied. There were Titans in Little Garden but they don't just go out attacking often enough for people to build walls.

" _Seid ihr das Essen? Nein, wir sind die Jaeger!"_ Alice smiled knowing that Laius had no idea on what she was talking about.

"What?"

"Nothing, inside joke," Alice giggled.

The problem children plus Jin and Lily had also come out of the shop. Asuka in particular was the one most excited. Her eyes were practically shinning. They seemed to be having fun until—

"I've found you!" Kuro Usagi exclaims as she descended the ground in high impact causing dust and rocks to fly everywhere. "You problem children!"

Alice winced slightly as Kuro Usagi yells. The volume hurt her ears and the tone of her voice made Alice shrink back a bit. Truly despite being a rabbit wearing perverted clothes, Kuro Usagi isn't someone to be taken lightly.

No match for her Onii-chan though.

Izayoi immediately took Asuka in his arms and jumps away from the rabbit. Yo was a bit slower and thus was caught by Kuro Usagi. Kuro Usagi immediately tossed the captured Yo to Shiroyasha and sent them both tumbling down.

"Hey Kuro Usagi!" Shiroyasha said in anger. "Haven't you been quite rude lately!? What's more, I'm the Eastern District Floor master—!" Whatever she was going to say was immediately cut off by Kuro Usagi.

"I'll leave Yo-san to you!" Kuro Usagi said with an imposing tone. Who knew the rabbit could do that. "Kuro Usagi still has two more problem children to catch."

"O-okay, good luck," overwhelmed, Shiroyasha could only muster up a meek response contrary to her usually energetic and bold self. With that, Kuro Usagi hopped after the remaining problem children with a blonde haired loli wearing a maid uniform went in tow.

The remaining people watched in silence. You could hear the wind blow as if a corny joke was made. Jin and Lily had nervous smiles on their faces while Arsene and Laius were perplexed.

"Geez," Alice said putting her hands on her hips. "If they were going to play, they should have played cops and robbers instead to make it more exciting."

"If they did, Kuro Usagi-nee wouldn't stand a chance," Lily said nervously.

"Is that so?"

"Well then I'm off to meet some beautiful ladies!" Arsene exclaimed as he jumped down and suddenly vanished.

Laius sighed. "Hey Shiroyasha, I'll be staying in the shop," he said as he walked towards the shop without waiting for Shiroyasha's reply. Shiroyasha followed him while carrying Yo in her shoulder.

That left Jin, Alice, and Lily outside.

"W-well," Jin nervously said. "I'll be going inside as well."

He doesn't even get two steps to the shop when he felt a hand on his shoulders. Turning around he saw Alice smiling. He turns to face her fully. "What is it Alice-san?"

"Well," Alice hums as she turns around and looks at the city. She turns back to Jin and gives out a dazzling smile. Jin felt his face grow hot. "Could you show Alice around the city?"

"Eh?"

 **[Chapter 05 – Side: Underwood]**

"So this is [Underwood]," Makoto said as he looked around the area after stepping out of the [Astral Gate]. It was an underground city covered by a web-like pattern of the roots of the Great Water Tree. The powerful cascading waterfalls produced by the tree created some faint rainbows. The sight was breathtaking, absolutely magnificent.

Makoto smiles as he turned to Shirayuki. "Don't you like waterfalls? I like them. It reminds of our first meeting, Shirayuki."

"Don't say it like that," Shirayuki blushed and turned away. "You're making sound like it was romantic in nature."

"I didn't mean it to sound that way," he said with fake surprise. He then smirks and leans over to look at Shirayuki's face. "Could it be? That you saw our first meeting in a romantic way?"

"Wh-wha!?" Shirayuki's face turned scarlet. Makoto smiles making her blush even more. Though she was beautiful on regular basis, a blushing Shirayuki was a cute Shirayuki. Perhaps he should tease her a bit more. "I d-did not!"

"Was that a stutter?" Makoto teased as he leaned closer.

"Makoto stop teasing Shirayuki," Izanami said as she massages her temples.

"Would you like me to tease you instead?"

"No, go back to teasing Shirayuki."

"Namie, how could you!?"

"Alright," Makoto sighed. "That's enough messing around."

"You were the one messing around!" Shirayuki said exasperated.

"Hmm? Was I messing around?" Makoto said as he placed a hand on his chin in deep thought. "Hmm… I don't think I was."

"You're still messing around!"

Faceless watched the trio in interest, Makoto being the center of it. He didn't seem that strong but appearances can be deceiving. He did beat Shirayuki-hime, the [Lord of the Tritonis Falls], in a [Gift Game] and he also made his Community famous in the East fast. That shouldn't be enough to gather the Queen's utmost interest however.

So what secrets did Yuuki Makoto hold?

Makoto turned around to face her, his hair swaying a bit giving Faceless a glimpse of his green right eye. "Well," he started. "Aren't you going to take us to the Queen?"

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[Underwood], Underground city

" _Something's wrong,"_ Cana said

" _I agree."_

There was a tense atmosphere throughout the city. The city was still busy but it felt like it was less busy than normal. The citizens were on alert. There's also that weird feeling that Makoto feels like he knew but he couldn't quite ring a bell.

Until he saw it.

There was a man standing being taken away. The man was pretty ordinary by Little Garden standards. He didn't stick out like a sore thumb.

He stood out in a different sense.

The man's eyes were empty and hollow. He just stared into space, watching the world move by.

Makoto has seen this before. After all he and S.E.E.S worked hard so that they can prevent it from spreading.

Apathy Syndrome.

Little Garden is a place where gods and other beings existed.

Who is to say that [Shadows] didn't exist here as well?

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[XXI: Universe] Mansion

"Sigh I'm bored," said a figure that sat in what seems like a giant balloon-like creature.

The figure kicked their legs about as if a method to relieve their boredom.

"I wish we had more members. I wanted to go to that festival as well," they lamented. They then abruptly stood up.

"East side," they pointed towards the direction and a swarm of balloon-like creatures went towards the said direction. "Ziodyne," Soon the sound of thunders echoed through the vicinity and lighting flashed all around the area.

They put their hands on their hips as they looked towards the east. Smoke was coming out of there. They hoped they didn't fry them badly. Those were just Ziodynes after all. They didn't use Thunder Reign and Wild Thunder because that would be too much overkill.

They sighed and lied down on the giant balloon-like creature. Small balloon-like creatures floated around the mansion, monitoring it like a hawk. There were no blind spots; you have to be invisible and flexible to get past this swarm.

"Unnn," they said as they pouted. "I hope they don't take too long."

And so they lazed around as they waited.

 **[Author's Note]**

 **Here's a new chapter.**

 **I've been busy with a couple of things these past few weeks so I hope you can forgive me if this chapter was a bit lackluster. There's also the fact that I'm getting a few ideas for some new fics. A Fate Grand Order/Persona crossover with a twist, a Danmachi/Persona, an Oregairu/Psycome, and a Saiki Kusuo fic. I've written them down as I felt like it would be a waste but I'm not very sure that they're ready to be uploaded yet.**

 **There's also my research in some myths, literature, science, history, etc. Persona series and Mondaiji/Last Embryo are very reliant on those after all. It's one of the major reasons on why I came up with this crossover. I'm trying to research as much as I can so that I can blend Persona and Mondaiji better.**

 **You need to have high IQ to understand—*gets shot***

 **The chapters until the end of the arc would be divided into two parts; Side: Salamandra and Side: Underwood.**

 **[Skill Gems] and [Persona Cards] are considered as [Gifts] by the way.**

 **Think you can guess the character that was at the end of the chapter?**

 **Hint #1: One of the most annoying bosses in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise.**

 **Hint #2: DMPMA** **M** **BA.**

 **Hint #3: Friday.**

 **Hope you enjoyed.**

 **[Extra Chapter: Stories From the Journey: The Battle Against the Hanged-man]**

"This is the last one," Mitsuru says as she looks up to the floating giant. It was the final [Full Moon Shadow], the [Hanged-man]. It floated in the air while three statues stood in the ground. "Once we've destroy it, the [Dark Hour] will finally end."

They all nodded. The sound of fighting was in the air. The two members of STREGA, Takaya and Jin, were defending the shadow and Akihiko and Ken had taken it upon themselves to engage those two in combat.

"Let's hurry this up," Makoto said. His eyes focused on the shadow. He will not make the same mistake as last time. He will destroy this [Shadow] and then kick Takaya's ass. "The sooner that thing's gone, the sooner the nightmare will end."

" **Right!"** His teammates cried out.

"Arf!" Koromaru barked in agreement.

They all charged at the Shadow.

"[Persona]!" Junpei summons Hermes and the Greek messenger of the gods appeared in full glory. "Hermes! Agidyne!"

A violent fire ball of fire was thrown at the [Full Moon Shadow]. The [Full Moon Shadow] flied up higher with amazing speed and the high tier fire spell was dodged.

"What?!" Junpei cried out. He wasn't expecting that outcome. The [Hanged-man] responds by suddenly plunging down and slamming its fist, creating a shockwave which sent them all flying.

"It seems that were going to have to bring that thing down to the ground if we want to at least damage it," Mitsuru commented as she stood up patting the dust away from her blouse.

' _Genius! I can't believe that you managed to figure that out!'_ Makoto nearly said but managed to catch himself. He didn't want the wrath of the Ice Queen upon him.

"But how are we going to bring that thing done?" Yukari said. She fires an arrow and the giant dodged it easily. "That thing is really high up in the air and it's dodging everything that we throw at it."

Makoto racked his brains for answers. He looked towards the statues and was suddenly attacked by a violent tower of fire.

"Kuh?!" Makoto dodged the Agidyne spell. It seems that those things are part of the [Full Moon Shadow]. Great, a [Full Moon Shadow] that can summon minions and fly, Final boss isn't someone that's just going to go down without a fight.

" _Everyone!_ " Fuuka's voice resounded in their head. " _It seems that those statues are the ones keeping it afloat. If we destroy them, then the [Shadow] will also go down._ "

Everyone nodded and began attacking the statues. The statues fought back but since they were statues they were easily predictable, even more so with Fuuka's support. The team was dodging the statues' attacks easily like it was a walk in the park.

"\\(O+++O)/!" The [Hanged-man] roared and descended at great speed and slammed its fist to the ground, blowing them away from the statues. It seems that they were right about the statues.

"Senpai, Yukari, Koromaru!" He called out the names of the three. "Keep attacking the statues! Aigis, Junpei, and I will keep the [Shadow] distracted!"

"Alright!" Junpei yelled out and slashes at the giant which floated up again. However this time it wasn't that high up and Aigis managed to jump behind it and strike it with Deathbound.

"Way to go, Ai-chan!" Junpei cheered and summoned Hermes. "Brave Blade!"

The messenger dives down and cuts the [Shadow] it the metallic wings on its foot. The [Hanged-man] was momentarily stunned by the pain and Makoto takes advantage of it to summon Melchizedek and attack with Holy Strike, blowing the [Hanged-man] away. It began to float in high speed again but—

"That's the last one!" Yukari says as she strikes down the final statue. The [Hanged-man] fell down like a rock and slammed to the ground.

They weren't going to miss that opening.

"All-out attack!" They didn't hold back. They mercilessly attacked the [Hanged-man]. They were like a hurricane, powerful and merciless. The [Full Moon Shadow] roared in pain as it received the full blown strength of S.E.E.S. It tried to fight back but the assault was relentless and it couldn't do anything but take the onslaught. Truly not even the toughest would be able to survive such onslaught. Not even the mightiest would be able to stand up. An explosion signals the end of the assault and the S.E.E.S jumps out of the smoke. The battle was decided.

Or it should have been—

"Even with all of that!" Who cried out, nobody knows. They were all to shocked that the [Shadow] survived their attacks.

"(9O+++O)9!" The [Hanged-man] roared again. It slammed its thick arms on the ground and created a miniature earthquake. The members of S.E.E.S had a hard time keeping their balance as the [Full Moon Shadow] slammed its fist. And as it slammed its fist, many lesser [Shadows] started to spurt from the ground until there were a dozen of them. The statues were also restored and then the unbelievable happened.

" **What** **?!** **"** They all cried out. The [Hanged-man] had taken the statues and put them on its shoulders. The statues merged with the [Full Moon Shadow] and it flew up out of their reach. They were also surrounded by lesser [Shadows]. It had them cornered.

"To think that it would learn," Mitsuru muttered. They absolutely had no chance in attacking it now.

"(O+++O)!"The [Hanged-man] snapped its fingers and one of the lesser [Shadows] started flailing wildly and began glowing. Whatever was going to happen, they wouldn't like it.

" _Everyone, be careful,"_ Fuuka's voice rang out alerting them. _"That [Shadow] is about to self-destruct!"_

Too late, the [Shadow] exploded. The explosion sends them all flying including the other lesser [Shadows]. They were blown away by a couple of feet. Yukari and Junpei were sent rolling down the road, Koromaru slammed to a car, Aigis collided with one of the bridges support and made a dent, Mitsuru slid to the ground and a small trail of blood followed. Makoto was the only one managed to land one of his legs. He tosses his broken sword aside as he got up.

The [Hanged-man] made action bombs using its own minions. What a horrifying ability. His teammates slowly got up and they regrouped. They glared at the rest of the lesser [Shadows].

"Self-destructing [Shadows]," Junpei spat out some blood and glared up to the [Hanged-man]. "He's floating up and making these things explode, what a fucking cheater."

" _The only way to stop them is to kill them before they explode,"_ Fuuka said grimly. _"But they aren't our main priority."_

"We have no way of reaching it now though," Aigis lamented. "If we could only attack it."

Makoto was racking up his brain with ideas. None of them had the ability to fly. The shadow was at such a high altitude that even if you climb the top of the bridge and jumped to it you won't be able to reach it—

That's it!

"I got a plan," Makoto smirked. He figured out how to reach the [Hanged-man]. Only Junpei liked that smirk on his face. It always meant that this plan would be absolutely insane or downright suicidal.

He explained it to them. They had different reactions after hearing the plan. Junpei had a grin on his face, Yukari and Mitsuru had a 'here we go again' look, he heard Fuuka sigh, and Aigis was worried.

"Sounds crazy," Junpei continued grin. "I love it."

"It's our only chance," Yukari sighed.

" _Please be safe, Makoto-kun,_ " Fuuka prayed.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Yuuki," Mitsuru sighed. "Let's hope that this doesn't end with another broken limb."

"Your safety is my top priority!" Aigis cried out. "This is too dangerous!"

"Yeah, I know," Makoto sighed. He knew that she would protest. "But I won't get hurt, not badly anyway."

"But—" Aigis started but Yukari put a hand on her shoulder.

"Let him," Yukari said in a reassuring tone. "He knows what he's doing."

Makoto nodded at Yukari, who smiles in return. He looks at the giant in the sky again and grins. That thing won't know what's coming for it. "Alright, let's do this."

"(O+++O)!" the [Hanged-man] once again snapped its fingers and another [Shadow] began flailing and glowing. The [Shadow] then runs towards them in an attempt to take them down with it. Makoto was pretty sure that one or two of them would be knocked out cold if that thing exploded on them.

Makoto runs towards the [Shadow]. This might look like an extremely stupid move but—

"Penthesilea!" Mitsuru cries out as she summons the Amazon Queen. "Bufudyne!"

Normally the high tier spell would just freeze the enemy completely. However, ice was versatile. It can freeze and it can be used to create. That is why instead of just freezing the [Shadow] on its tracks, a block of ice appeared above it as well. Makoto steps on the block of ice on the nick of time before the [Shadow] exploded, launching him up to the air.

He was still a bit short though as the [Shadow] was still out of reach. However—

"Garudyne!" Yukari summons Io and the high end wind spell propelled him up higher and the [Hanged-man] was now within reach.

"(/O+++O)/?!" The [Hanged-man] was caught off guard and Makoto doesn't waste any time and immediately takes advantage of the momentary helplessness.

"Alice! Megidola!" Alice appears above the [Hanged-man] smirking as she unleashes the Almighty spell.

"(X+++X)!" the [Hanged-man] was sent flying a couple of feet down but the [Full Moon Shadow] quickly recovered and flew up past Makoto in an unbelievable speed. However—

"As expected!" Makoto yells out and puts his evoker to his head. He pulls the trigger and summons Gabriel, the Archangel known as the [Power of God]. "Niflheim!"

Once again a block of ice appeared. That ice isn't enough. Even if he did jump using it as a stepping stool, he would still be a couple of feet short.

That's why—

"Surt! Ragnarok!"

To compensate for that he needed a boost and he had just what he needed. He summons the giant king of Muspellheim and flames exploded underneath the block of ice launching him up to higher altitude than the [Full Moon Shadow].

"\\(O+++O)/?!"

Makoto pulls out the [Skill Card] containing Holy Strike and summons Melchizedek. Unlike God Hand which can only be performed by the fist, Holy Strike can be performed using other parts of the body, like the elbow or leg so it didn't matter if Makoto had his evoker and card on his hand. He could always use his foot.

"Go down to the ground where you belong, you stupid [Shadow]!"

Makoto's foot and Melchizedek's fist both struck the back of the floating giant and sent it at breakneck speed down to the ground where the rest, having dealt with the lesser [Shadows], were waiting in anticipation. As soon as the giant collided with the ground, it was assaulted with multiple attacks. Blasts of fire, gales of wind, rain of bullets, torrents of ice, and barrage of dark power struck the [Hanged-man] which roared in pain. It received the full power of S.E.E.S.

And yet the [Full Moon Shadow] did not fall.

"What the heck is that thing made of?!" Junpei cried out as the monster started floating once again. It still managed to survive that?!

All seems hopeless, the chance of victory had slipped away, and they were defeated.

However—

"Like I'd let you get away!" Makoto yells as he descended at high speed, having used Panta Rhei to propel himself. He was spinning as he went down, building momentum for his kick. "This is the end! Holy Strike!"

Makoto slams his leg to the back of the [Hanged-man]'s neck. It cried out its last cry as the head was promptly separated from the body by the sheer power of the kick. The body started disappearing in black particles and the head fell to the ground...

"Guhaa!"

…or more accurately, on Junpei, before it finally disappeared.

"Congratulations!" Fuuka cried out as she runs to the group. "We've finally defeated the final [Shadow]!"

"That was extremely dangerous," Mitsuru said with a scolding tone but the look in her face says that she was quite impressed. "I trust that your limbs are okay?"

"Yeah," Makoto said as he moved his arms and legs. Hurts a bit but nothing he can't handle. "They're fine. I don't think I want to do something like that again."

"Way to go bro!" Junpei grinned as he got up and wrapped an arm on Makoto. Personal space. "You were way awesome out there!"

"Hey!" The group turned and saw Akihiko and Ken. Both were covered in wounds but they seemed to be fine. Akihiko looks around the battlefield and smiles. "It seems that you guys managed to do it."

"Yeah," Yukari said. "But what happened to the members of STREGA?"

"They jumped off the bridge when Akihiko-san and I started gaining the upper hand," Ken sighed. "What a bunch of cowards."

"Hmph," Yukari huffed. "Leave them be. All the [Full Moon Shadows] have been defeated so that means that the [Dark Hour] will finally end too."

"I'm gonna miss being a hero, but a time of peace is needed even for Da Man," Junpei laughed.

"Why don't we have a victory celebration?" Ken suggested. "A celebration for our success in saving the world."

"Good idea, Ken-kun!" Fuuka cheerfully agreed as she claps her hands.

The group spent the remainder of the [Dark Hour] planning what to do in the celebration party.


	7. A Rising Intonation Perhaps?

**Chapter 06** **: A Rising Intonation Perhaps?**

 **This fanfic assumes that you have read Mondaiji and finished Persona 3 and some of the other games of the Shin Megami Tensei Franchise. Don't blame me for getting spoiled.**

 **[Chapter 06 – Side: Salamandra]**

"Hurry Jin-kun!"

"Y-yeah."

Jin was currently being dragged around by Alice throughout the festival despite the fact that Jin should be the one leading the way. They had lost Lily (although it was more like Lily lost them due to Alice) as they went to the stalls and displays around the city.

Jin was also flustered as Alice held his hand as she dragged him around. And with the smile that Alice had on her cute face, he knew she was holding his hand on purpose.

She was a problem child equal to the three. Maybe even more.

The two had bought some crepes from some nearby stands and then went back to enjoying the festival. Jin was actually getting anxious. People had been looking at them for some time now, and they usually had smiles that Jin didn't like. Then it hit him.

' _W-we look like were having a date.'_

Jin immediately blushes and scoots away from Alice a little bit. It wasn't that he didn't like Alice. He liked her. Not that way of course. He just felt quite uncomfortable with her being quite touchy. Alice turns towards the trouble Jin and reaches out towards his face.

"You got some cream on your face," she says as she wipes of the cream on Jin's cheek making him shriek a bit.

"Haha," Alice giggles. "That was a pretty girly scream Jin-chan." She says as she licks the cream off of her finger.

"…" Jin looks away blushing.

Alice giggles again. "You're so cute, Jin-kun."

"E-enough with the teasing," stammers Jin.

"Mmm, Okay," Alice said. "If it's making you too uncomfortable, Alice will stop."

"T-thank you."

They continued to walk around the festival. Alice would occasionally ask Jin some questions and Jin would answer them as clear as he can.

"Say Jin-kun," Alice called out to the young leader. "How did you become the leader of [No Name] at such a young age?"

Jin wasn't expecting that. "W-why would you want to know that?"

"Because Alice is quite curious," she replied. "You don't seem strong and it seems that you're still learning."

Jin fell silent.

"If you don't want to answer, then it's okay. Alice is not gonna force you."

"N-no it's fine," Jin said. "I-I became the leader because I was the oldest."

"?" 

"When the [Demon Lord] attacked our Community, they took a lot of our members," Jin started. "Our main members to be precise. Only children were left in after that attack. Being the oldest one in our Community, I was appointed as the leader."

"What about Ero Usagi?" Alice asked. "Isn't Ero Usagi older and more powerful than you, Jin-kun?"

Ero Usagi was probably Kuro Usagi. Jin shook his head. "Due to her duty as [Judge Master], she can't be our leader. A [Judge Master] must be fair, if she became our leader a lot of people will think that she might become biased."

"But she can be a member?" Alice asked.

"Yeah," Jin replied.

Alice was going to ask more things when they heard a rumbling noise. The duo looked up and saw that a tower was crumbling down. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out the cause of that.

Jin looked at Alice. Alice looked at Jin.

Alice nodded. "Go ahead. Alice will be fine on her own now."

Jin nodded. "Thank you."

Jin ran off.

"It's quite a shame," Alice mulls. "Alice wanted to talk to him a bit more."

Alice decided to make use of her time and explore [Salamandra] a bit more. There were many artworks, cravings, and all things that are artistic.

There was also someone following her. This particular person had been following Jin and Alice but it seems that Jin didn't notice. Alice sighed. She was cute and she knows it but does she really look that helpless that some people would stalk her? Well, if that was the case then Stalker-san would get quite the surprise. Said surprise is a rain of swords, spears, halberds, axes, bread knives, and forks. She could even throw in some dynamite-laden teddy bears.

"Could you please stop, Stalker-san?" Alice said in a cold and deadly voice as she turned around. "Alice is getting annoyed."

But her Onii-chan wouldn't like that. He wouldn't want her to be going out killing people randomly. He would be disappointed if she did and Alice didn't want to disappoint him.

"I thought I hid myself well," a young boy who could be described as white. His hair was white as well as his clothes save for his scarf, which was black, and his shoes, which was brown. His pale complexion rivalled Alice's. The only thing that isn't white is his eyes, which were instead gold.

"Nope, you hid yourself quite well," Alice said. "Alice wouldn't have noticed if she was a weaker person."

Alice narrowed her eyes. "Now could we get to the part on why you were following Jin and Alice?"

"Is it wrong to say that I was quite interested in you?"

"My my, Alice is quite flattered."

The boy had walked up to her side and smiled. "Seeing that you're all alone, mind if I keep you company?"

Alice shrugged. Even if he did try something funny or tried to attack her, she was confident that she could take him on easily. "Don't you think you should introduce yourself first?"

"Ah, my bad," the boy laughed. "I don't give my out my real name but call me Highness."

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—around the same time

Leticia, the captured Asuka, and the newly found Lily were walking around the plaza as they ate crepes.

"So you lost Jin and Alice?" Leticia questioned the young girl.

"Y-yes," Lily replied meekly. She was quite ashamed having lost the duo but that wasn't her fault. It was like Alice was deliberately trying to make her lose them.

"I see," Leticia said. Though she doubted that Alice would endanger Jin, she believed that the girl might be a bad influence to the young boy.

"Oh, if it isn't Asuka-chan and Lily-chan," somebody spoke out. Asuka recognized the voice. They turned around and saw Arsene. There was a bright red slap mark on his face. "How do you do?"

"Shouldn't you be asking yourself that?" Leticia spoke.

"Oh my! An unknown cute girl," Arsene smiled, ignoring the question. "I am Arsene Lupin. May I know your name Mademoiselle?"

"Leticia Draculair," Leticia said reluctantly. Arsene Lupin, the legendary phantom thief. Despite this being their first meeting, Leticia was feeling annoyance towards the thief. He gave off a somewhat similar vibe as a certain death god.

"What a beautiful name," Arsene said with a charming smile. "It fits you to a T to be honest."

Oh, they were the same.

"Stay back Lily, Asuka. This man is lecher."

"Oh you wound me."

"You got that slap on your face after flirting with another woman while flirting with another woman, didn't you?" Leticia deduced.

"..." Arsene fell silent.

"Seems I was right."

"Yes! You are right mademoiselle!" Arsene said with vigor. Leticia cringed. "With so much beautiful flowers, how can it be possible for moi to pick only one?"

He placed his hand on his chest as he looked up with a longing look. "It pains my heart to choose only one and thus I choose them all."

Leticia had an unimpressed expression, Asuka had a grossed out look, and Lily had a scared expression. They all had the same thoughts.

 _'This man is a pervert equal to Shiroyasha!'_

Arsene turned to them with a smile. "But in the meantime, I will accompany you for the moment."

"There is no need for that," Leticia said.

"Oh I insist," Arsene said. "Especially since there are threats running around."

"What?" Asuka asked.

"I said that there are threats running around," Arsene repeated. "Did you not notice? There are people with the intention to disrupt this festival lurking around. You could say that they might be [Demon Lords]," he lowered his voice as he said those last words.

"Why would-"

"Perhaps because this is the debut of a new [Floor Master]? After all, since the new [Floor Master] is a young girl and many do not approve of it, this would be the perfect timing for an attack."

Leticia was silent. There were merits in his words and Arsene seems to be more than meets the eye. Having him accompany them would surely be a great help. Leticia sighed. Asuka and Lily's safety were better than their discomfort

"Fine..." Leticia reluctantly accepted the offer.

Arsene beamed. "I promise that nothing will harm you my dear mademoiselle!"

Leticia was already regretting her decision.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[Salamandra] Exhibits.

"Sorry," the young boy, Highness said. "Am I boring you?"

"Hmmm... not really, Alice pondered. They had been walking around the festival like always. Highness even gave some trivia about some of the artworks. "But it isn't fun either. Just in between."

"Sorry," Highness smiled. "I was never quite the social person so I don't know much how to have fun."

"Really? But all people should know how to have fun."

"Perhaps I'm not like most people."

"I guess..." Alice leaned over to him. Highness raised an eyebrow as she moves closer to his ear and whispered.

"Maybe it's because you're a [Demon Lord] or maybe an associate."

If Highness was surprised he didn't show it. He kept a straight face and looked at Alice in the eye. Alice had a smile on her face but her eyes were serious. It seems that he underestimated her intelligence. She looked like someone who was impulsive and excitable. Highness let out an impressed sigh. He smiled and looked at the young girl. "What gave it away?"

"Nothing much. Just some gut feeling and the traces of power on you," She said. "Also I wasn't sure that you were until you yourself confirmed it."

"Heh," Highness chuckled. "It seems that I slipped."

"Okay," Alice said with a subtle hint of threat in her voice. "Why are you here Highness-kun?"

"Not much," Highness replied honestly. "I've heard about your Community and decided to take a look at the members of [XXI: Universe]. I could have gone to [Underwood] instead to meet your leader instead but Queen Halloween is there so I'd rather not."

"Is the Queen that powerful?"

"Very much so," he said. "She's one of the Three Great Problem Children of Little Garden. Not even the [Demon Lords] of the upper floors want to mess with her."

The news unsettled Alice a bit but it was her Onii-chan they were talking about. Nobody can beat her Onii-chan.

Right?

"Don't worry," Highness said sensing her discomfort. "The Queen is quite benevolent even if she is quite the trickster. I'm sure she's just interested at your leader. She won't harm him. As long as he doesn't do anything to offend the Queen."

"How rude," Alice puffed her cheeks. "Onii-can is a fine gentleman. Alice can bet that he won't do anything to offened the Queen."

"Is that so?"

"Of course! He's a good guy even if he is sometimes playful."

"Is that so? Perhaps they'll get along."

Alice was about to reply when she saw someone. "Is that Asuka-chan?"

She couldn't mistake the red dress that the young lady wore. There was also the fairy that she was chasing.

"Sorry, Mr. Associate, but I'm going to go after that young lady so I'll be taking my leave."

"Okay, I hope we can chat again next time," Alice was already running off to the direction where Asuka went so she didn't hear that remainder of Highness's words.

"Too bad that might be in the battlefield."

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"Where could that girl went to?" Alice said as she ran around. She could have sworn that she saw Asuka chasing some kind of fairy. That wasn't good. Most fairies aren't the same as those in stories. There are some that kidnaps humans, plays with human minds and also might even eat humans.

"?" Alice felt a peculiar feeling. Turning to one of the exhibits, she saw a man in a fedora. The fedora man wore black, from top to bottom, that it made him look like he was going to a funeral. The man had brown hair and his left eye was covered in an eye patch.

There was also the fact that he was looking at her with a rather sinister smirk. Alice also felt like she's seen him before but she couldn't recall where. Maybe in one of those times that she was summoned by someone who wasn't her onii-chan? She didn't really pay any attention to the future Wild Cards that summoned her.

A civilian passed by and blocked Alice's view and the man disappears.

"That was strange but Alice doesn't have time for that."

Alice continued her search. This time her guard was tripled.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—at a certain exhibit

"Guh!" Asuka grunted as she sliced off another rat. Why did this happen? First she was enjoying time with her new friend (whose name she still doesn't know due to the fairy's confusing answers), when the rats struck.

Normally she would have just used her [Gift], [Authority], to subdue them but it seems that it won't work on the rats so she's forced to defend herself with her sword. Not only that, they were deliberately trying to target her new friend.

Asuka gritted her teeth and ran away from the rats. Without her [Gift], she was useless. Unlike Izayoi or Yo, who fought with their own strength, she was over reliant to her [Gift].

She wished she was stronger.

The rats jumped at her and this time simultaneously. There was no way she could defend against them but her little companion would be in danger. And thus Asuka raised her arms in a defensive manner despite the fact that it would have been useless—

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"Where did she go?" Leticia mumbled as she flew, frustrated. She was practically searching the whole city for her missing master who ran off to chase a fairy despite Arsene's warnings. She had left (reluctantly) Lily to Arsene and hoped that he wasn't into younger girls.

"!?" She sensed something in one of the exhibits, one that looked like a large cave and saw that some people were running out of there. Leticia quickly dives down and goes into the cave immediately.

' _Please be safe!'_ Leticia thought.

A surge of dread and Leticia stopped in mid-flight. The dread almost made Leticia hyperventilate. If she was any weaker she would have fainted by the amount of malice coming from the inside of the tunnel. To be honest, Leticia wanted to turn back. Despite being a former [Demon Lord] and a [Knight of Little Garden], she wanted to flee.

However, Asuka was inside. Asuka and the others didn't abandon Leticia. Leticia would rather die than abandon any of her masters.

With a determined look, Leticia was enveloped in darkness. No sooner the darkness disappeared, revealing a mature looking Leticia. This was her true form; she isn't going to hold back. She rushes inside with the intent to save her master.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—And yet the rats didn't come.

Asuka felt a sense of dread but the rats still didn't come she lowered her arms a bit and looked at the rats. They were frozen in place, frozen in fear.

Steps echoes from behind Asuka. Each step was enough to make Asuka consider running to the rats to avoid who or whatever was behind her. But slowly she turned her head. The figure was hidden in the shadows, making it only scarier. As the figure got near, Asuka managed to make out who it was and was rather shocked since she recognized her.

It was Alice. She was smiling sweetly. It was very _very scary._ "Alice chased after Asuka because Alice saw her chasing a fairy and got worried since not all fairies are nice little creatures from story books. And yet, Alice finds Asuka surrounded by ugly rats."

Alice had now passed Asuka. She looks at the rats with a smile. Placing her delicate (?) index finger to her lips, she whispered in a horrifyingly sweet and cold voice.

"Would you all please die for me?"

A surge of darkness enveloped the rats. Passing them in an instant and in an instant the rats were all gone. What happened to those rats, Asuka didn't want to know. All she knows is that she is currently terrified and is about to pass out. Alice turned to her and smiled. "Are you okay Asuka-chan?"

Asuka was still afraid that she couldn't find her voice and her consciousness was fading. By the time she heard someone else come, she had already blacked out.

 **[Chapter 06 – Side: Underwood]**

—[Underwood]

"Hey Fae," Makoto said.

Faceless turned around to see who Makoto was talking to but she didn't see anyone else. Strange. She could have sworn that he called out an unfamiliar name. There is no Fae in the group. There was only Shirayuki, Namie, Makoto, and her. "Who is this Fae?"

Makoto looked at her. "That's you."

"I am Faceless not Fae."

"Faceless doesn't sound cute," he said. "Fae is much cuter don't you think?"

"Yes you may be right but I am Faceless not Fae."

Makoto sighed. How can someone be so serious? She needed to relax sometimes. "Fine," he gave her a serious look. "Those people, the ones that looked like they were dead. When did it start happening?"

Faceless looked at him. "Around two days ago. We still don't know what causes them but we call them the Lost."

 _'So Apathy Sydrome is called the Lost here. Man, we should have called them that in our world. Sounds cool.'_

 _'Your priorities are skewered.'_ Cana said.

 _'Don't worry. I don't think Nyx is involved and I've dealt with this once I can probably do it again. Plus I got you on my side. Nobody can beat us.'_

 _'You flatter me but thanks.'_

"...and the Lost seems to have lost all empathy and desire to live-are you even listening to me?" Faceless said as she turned to him. Despite the fact that her face was covered, he can feel her glare.

"Ummm...something about the Lost losing the will to live?" He replied.

"Yes, the Lost..." He didn't really need this lesson as he already knows about this from his previous life. He hoped that Faceless will forgive him for not listening to a lesson he already knows.

 _'Hey Cana. What's the Queen like?'_

 _'A problem child like Shiroyasha.'_

 _'So she's a pervert?'_

 _'Not quite but she does like teasing people.'_

 _'Is that so? Can about you tell me about Izayoi then?'_

 _'Izayoi huh? He's quite a troublesome child to be honest. He's impulsive and does what he wants. There was even a time where he jumped off to the bottom of the Niagra Falls to see if there really was a demon there after I told him about it.'_

 _'Whoah really? That's quite impressive_

 _'Yeah, there was also that time he held a Game. The answer was simple but the people that couldn't reach him.'_

 _'So he was a lonely kid too.'_

 _'How did you know?'_

 _'Well I thought that he may have held that game for someone to come and find him. Notice him.'_

 _'Yes. He did.'_

 _'You were the one that found him then?'_

 _'Yes. That game is what led me to finding him.'_

"We're here," Faceless' voice brought him back to reality. They were in front of a mansion. The mansion was slightly bigger than his and was just as beautiful. It was also white.

There was also a woman in front of the door. She had dark purple braided hair. Her eyes were blue and held wisdom. Instead of the maid uniform Makoto expected she was wearing a butler suit. He was slightly disappointed. He liked maids.

Other than that he felt that this woman was quite strong. She had an aura of a warrior and it felt like she was also a great mentor.

"Welcome," she bowed down. Like a butler. It seems that the suit suits her better than a maid outfit. She stood straight and smiled at them. "We've been expecting you."

 _'Obviously since you were the one that invited us.'_ He kept that comment to himself.

She opens the door and beckoned them to go inside. The group stepped into the mansion. The moment Makoto's back was turned he felt a sensation.

And not long after he was holding a spear that would've skewered his head. The owner of the said spear was the woman in the butler suit.

Namie and Shirayuki were immediately on guard. Namie in particular looked like she wanted to rip the woman apart. He couldn't have her doing that so he placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"And what was that for Miss Butler?" Though Makoto said that with a smile, his eyes were rather serious.

"Nothing much," she replied. "I was just trying to test you."

"Well are you satisfied with the result then?"

"Are you seriously just going to let her off the hook?" Namie said glaring at Miss Butler. Miss Butler returned the gaze with the same intensity.

"Now now Namie, she just wanted to test me," Makoto turned towards Miss Butler. "Well, were you satisfied by the result?"

"If we're being honest, no," she eyed him from head to toe. "I still can't get a good assessment on you."

"You can always try again but please not now," Makoto chuckled. "I don't want to meet Queen Halloween riddled with holes."

"You seem quite confident," the butler lady said.

"If I don't have confidence in myself, who else would believe in me?" Makoto said. "I'm a leader of a Community, a relatively new Comunity at that. I have to be confident."

Makoto looked at Miss Butler. "Since you did attack me, may I have your name."

The woman bowed. "I am Scathach." Izanami's eyes narrowed a bit.

"Oh," Makoto's interest was piqued. "The lady of Dun Scaith herself or were you named after her?"

Scathach smiled. "Which do you believe?"

"With a beauty like yours, I believe that you are the real one," Makoto said sincerly.

 _'There you go again, flirting with everybody you meet,"_ Cana teased.

 _'It's not flirting, it was an honest compliment,'_ Makoto replied.

Scathach smiled. "Why, thank you for the compliment."

Faceless cleared her throat. "The Queen wouldn't want to be kept waiting any longer. If the introductions are done, then please come follow me."

The group complied and started to follow Faceless, however—

"Ah, yes," The Queen said. "Your companions should stay at the guest area. The Queen only wants you, Yuuki Makoto."

"If you phrase it like that I might get the wrong idea," Makoto said.

"Please don't."

Namie wasn't so happy with the arrangement. "I'm not going to lea—"

Makoto sighed. "Namie, your protectiveness is sweet and all but I assure you that I can handle myself." The tone of finality wouldn't be missed by anyone. He usually used that tone when Alice was being too annoying that not even his doting tendencies could tolerate

Namie sighed. "Fine, but if anything happens I'll be rushing there to smack your head."

"Please don't."

The group separated. Izanami and Shirayuki following Scathach to the guest room while Makoto followed Faceless to the Queen's room. The two walked on a rather long hallway before reaching a large red door.

"I should give you an advice before you meet the Queen," Faceless said causing Makoto too look at her. "Try to be in your best behaviour. The Queen is affable but she doesn't tolerate extreme rudeness."

"Duly noted," Makoto said with a thumbs up and a smile. With what she saw with his carefree attitude, Faceless hoped that he truly is serious this time. "I'll try not to be too casual and be as polite as possible when talking to her."

Makoto knocked on the door four times. Four times as that is the usual courtesy when knocking on a door. Four knocks are for those who you still have not met or a person of upper class, three for those who you already know, and knocking twice is for when knocking on places like restrooms.

This was his first time meeting the Queen and he was pretty sure the Queen didn't want her room to be treated like a restroom.

"Come in," a sweet and enchanting voice was heard from behind the door.

Makoto held the knob and opened the door. The room was well decorated but Makoto didn't pay much attention to that. His eyes were focused on the woman before him. One word came to mind.

Beautiful.

No that would have been an understatement. Her long golden hair flowed down to her back, her red eyes shined like gems, and her skin looked smooth. She was like an art masterpiece given form.

He enters the room slowly and stopped at when he was near the Queen's table. She smiles at him. "Please have a seat," she gestures at the seat directly in front of hers. He sat down in his most proper but still casual sit.

"Good day," Makoto started the conversation. "Though you may have heard of me, allow to personally introduce myself. I am Yuuki Makoto, the leader of the new Community in the East, [XXI – Universe]. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Ah yes, the new Community that's making quite the name for itself," the Queen said. "I am Queen Halloween. It is a pleasure to meet you, Yuuki Makoto."

She places her elbow on the armrest of her chair and rested her head on her hand. It looked like that one redheaded god from a certain mobile game. "I am quite interested in you, Messiah."

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"Fumu," Mizar puffed her cheeks as she kicked about.

"Mizar you've been fuming for about five minutes now," Alcor said as he sat down next to his sister.

"I'm super bored."

"How about a game then?"

"Your idea of fun is weird."

"But aren't we weird on daily basis?" Alcor said. "I mean, I'm a cube and you're a giant balloon disguising ourselves as humans. And Namie-san is something straight out of a horror film."

"'Giant balloon'? Did you just call me fat?"

"Oh I didn't mean it that way. I was merely trying to make a joke. "

"Don't bother you sense of humor suck," Mizar gave him a smug smile. The smug smile was actually effective as Alcor frowned a bit before giving a smirk of his own.

Alcor looked behind Mizar and widened his eyes. "Oh my is that a dragon?"

"KYAAAAHHH!" Mizar jumped up and hid behind Alcor. When she saw that there was no dragon she puffed her cheeks and punched her brother in the shoulder. "That wasn't funny!"

"Sorry I didn't know that your reaction would be that bad," Alcor chuckled. "It seems that you still haven't gotten over your fear of dragons."

She wasn't afraid of dragons at first but after being devored by the Dragon Stream, it scarred her quite a bit. Coincidentally, she started to hate the name 'Yamato', as it was the name of the dragon's summoner, and she usually bickers with Yamato Takeru

"Of course! Do you have any idea how scary it is to be eaten by a dragon," Mizar said as she looks at him with tears in her eyes. It was actually comical. "That thing keeps swallowing you as you try to escape, it was traumatizing."

Alcor patted her head. "There there."

Mizar puffed her cheeks as she was petted but she didn't make any move on stopping Alcor.

After that sweet sibling moment, it again degraded to Mizar complaining about her boredom and Alcor mediating her. Alcor silently wished that they would come back sooner so he could stop dealing with his sister's demands.

 **[Author's Note]**

 _ **Ima wa… Watashi wa… Ikuteiru!**_

 **Well this is a rather late chapter. Sorry, many things are taking up my time. I was also trying (read: failing) to translate some raw mangas.**

 **I had Highness appear early because I kind of like him.**

 **By the way, what do you guys think of the Extra Chapters. Do you enjoy them? I'm also wondering if I should just compile them** **and put them in a different story. Something like Garden's Universe Extra Chapters.**

 **Also, the dreaded question: *low voice* what pairings? Ero Usagi isn't included because Ero Usagi's sexy legs belong to Izayoi.**

 **Makoto:**

 **Asuka**

 **Queen Halloween**

 **Namie**

 **Yo**

 **Karyou**

 **Shirayuk** **i**

 **Willa**

 **Harem**

 **Jin:**

 **Alice (Don't torch me)**

 **Sandora**

 **Pest**

 **Lily**

 **[Extra Chapter: Stories from the Journey: Danger! Escape the Onsen Execution]**

Makoto lets out sigh as he relaxed in the hot springs. There were currently four of them here with Ryoji and Akihiko being the third and fourth respectively. He was glad that Junpei had invited him. He needed to relax after what happened with Ikutsuki. The past few days had been rather tiring and depressing, especially with how Mitsuru had been acting.

This hot springs break had been well deserved.

Until—

"Hey," Ryoji started. "Did you guys know that this baths changes from men to women?"

"Really," Junpei said with feign ignorance.

Makoto's eyes opened slightly with a hint of annoyance in it. He felt some phantom pain in his cheek, the one that Yukari had slapped. It wasn't that he didn't want to see them bathing, but he was here to relax not to perv.

"So," Akihiko-senpai started warily. It seems he's caught up. "When exactly does the bath change?"

"I don't know but it could be at any minute now. Isn't that right Junpei-kun?" Mochizuki…

"You're right Ryoji-kun," Stupei…

"You guys knew about this," Akihiko said with a disapproving look. "You guys are such idiots."

 _'Wo_ _w senpai, I didn't know that you were this slow_ _,'_ Makoto bit back the remark.

"Relax senpai," Junpei assured him. "I doubt that anyone else would go to the hot springs at this hour."

Makoto doubts that. Hot springs under a starry sky was quite relaxing. It's actually one of the reasons he agreed to go with them in the first place

"Yeah, even if they do we could just treat it like an honest accident," Ryoji added.

 _'_ _Boy, I hope so,_ _'_ Makoto thought. He wasn't in the mood to appease the anger of young ladies.

They were interrupted with the sound of girls talking. Oh great, Makoto sighed and dipped down lower.

"Someone's coming!" Akihiko said in panic.

"Don't worry we'll just tell them we didn't know," Ryoji said with a smile. The smile actually showed some of his nervousness.

Perhaps they should. That is until one of the girls spoke.

"Wow, this hot springs is huge."

And the phantom pain increased.

 _'_ _Ooohhh shieeet_ _!'_

"Oh crap," Junpei gulped. "It's them."

"You're right. It's the size of a swimming pool."

 _'Ooohhh nooooo!'_

The situation was so dire he couldn't help but make a reference.

"I don't understand why we are here."

 _'Why the heck are here too Aigis? Won't you get expossed?'_

"Are you kidding me?!" Junpei cried out.

Ryoji on the other hand. "Yes! Yukari-san and Fuuka-san! This is my lucky nig-"

Whatever he waa going to say it was cut off by Junpei dunking Ryoji's head into the water. Makoto felt slightly irritated because he wanted to be the one to do that.

"? What was that?" Yukari said.

 _'Oh my god!'_

"Oh crap!" Junpei cried out in alarm.

"Hm? Yukari what's wrong?" Makoto's blood turned cold.

"Oh shit! Mitsuru's here too!" Akihiko paled. "There's no way she'll let this go as an accident."

"Y-you can't be serious," Junpei had a horrified look on his face.

"If she finds out she'll..."

"S-she'll what?" Ryoji was starting to get scared too.

Akihiko gulped. "She'll execute us."

"E-execute us?!" Both perverts cried out.

Makoto's mind darted off to a certain conversation.

 _"Hey senpai," Makoto called out to the older student sitting in the lobby. They had just finished rescuing Fuuka and he was curious about something. "What happened to Mister Ekoda?"_

 _"Oh," Mitsuru turned to him. "You're interested in his execution?"_

 _Makoto nodded._

 _"There are things better left unsaid," Mitsuru smiled. Makoto felt the hairs on his back stand up. It seems that he really didn't want to know what happened._

 _'I really don't want a first hand experience.'_ Makoto turned and saw that the others had already ran away.

Oh yeah. Flashbacks didn't stop time.

He heard slashing water in the distance and it was getting closer. He didn't have enough time to escape and trying to move fast would most likely give him away.

He needed a plan and he needed it fast. He racked up his brain. He was the charismatic field leader of S.E.E.S, he's escaped life and death situations before. This was just another trial in his journey and it was a trial he was gonna overcome.

A plan formed and he closed his eyes.

"Is there-Yuuki-kun?!" Yukari cried out.

"W-wait what?!" Fuuka exclaimed.

"That is shocking," Aigis said in a deadpan tone.

"What are you doing here Yuuki?" Mitsuru's voice was ice cold. Makoto gathered up all of his courage how little they maybe.

He rubbed his eyes open and looked at the girls. He needed to stay calm and collected.

He rubbed his eyes and looked at the ladies. He would have enjoyed it if it weren't for the fact that one false step could spell doom.

"Eh?" Makoto feigned ignorance. "What are you doing here?"

"We're the one's supposed to be asking that!"

"What?" Makoto raised an eyebrow. "But isn't this the men's bath?"

"It was women's bath when-" Yukari paused, a look of realization dawned over her face. "Oh right! This hot springs changes from men to women at certain times."

"Whoa wait, really?" Makoto once again feigned igonarance. "I didn't know that. Sorry."

Technically it was true. He didn't know that until he got here, but that information didn't come from the girls. But none of them knows that.

"Oh," Yukari had an embarassed face. "Sorry, we almost overreacted."

The others bowed their head too in apology.

"Ah no I'm sorry too," he truly was. "Well, I'll get out since this is technically a womens bath now so I'm not supposed to be here anymore."

"Okay, you may leave," Mitsuru said in a stern voice. "But try to know more about where you are next time."

"Got it." He stood up and left the hot springs. He got into his yukata in the dressing room and while he was at it he let out a smirk of victory.

"Just as planned."

He decided that running away and risking getting caught was a bad idea. If they got caught, explaining would be a lot harder as it made them look guilty of peeping. Imagine them as people and the girls as sharks. Most of the time, sharks approach people out of curiousity but if people started to panic, the sharks would associate it with a prey's reaction to being hunted, causing the sharks to go on a feeding frenzy.

If they did make it look like an accident however, they would've escaped. Akihiko's fear of Mitsuru's execution clouded his judgement. Mitsuru is a reasonable person and when talked to with a reasonable arguement you could have an agreement with her. Seeing that they aren't from Kyoto, they had a valid excuse of not knowing that the hot springs changed in certain times.

Makoto walked out of the dressing room and walked towards his room.

"I wonder if they got out," Makoto wondered with a smile on his face. He heard screams that wouldn't be out of place in a horror movie. "I guess they didn't. Poor Akihiko-senpai."

And if those guys tried to associate him with them, it would just come out as a poor excuse.


	8. Ara? That's a rather Familiar Face

**Chapter 07: Ara? That's a rather Familiar Face**

 **[Chapter 07 – Side: Salamandra]**

— [Salamandra], Underground Exhibit.

"Well," Alice said as she looked at the lance pointed at her neck. She looks at the holder of the lance. A blonde woman with red eyes flashing menacingly. "This is a rather rude thank you, don't you think?"

The answer she got was the lance nearing towards her throat. Alice sighed and glared back at Leticia. "What did you do to Asuka?" Leticia questioned as she looked at the unconscious girl.

"Hmmm," Alice made a wondering expression. "Saved her from rats that were trying to attack her? Though judging from the look on your face, you probably don't believe Alice."

Leticia didn't. The dread and malice that she felt came from the young girl. Even now she felt it, the dreadful aura that's almost making her suffocate. Who knows if she was lying about the rats?

"Yare yare daze," Alice said as she made a gesture that looked like she was pulling down a cap visor over her eyes.

"Please lower that lance down, mademoiselle," a familiar voice said. Arsene steps in from out of nowhere and places a hand on the weapon. Leticia glared at him. "If you're worried about Lily-chan, don't worry. I took her back to the [Thousand Eyes] shop."

Arsene looked at Alice with half-opened eyes. "Please stop releasing that malicious aura, Alice. It's unpleasant."

"Oh right! Okay!" Alice said. Suddenly all of the malice and dread that Leticia had been feeling disappeared. She lowered her lance down and looked at the duo. Arsene smiled at her. And then his eyes widened.

"Is that you Leticia-san?" Oh right, they still didn't know of this form. Leticia tied her ribbon and turned back to the loli maid from earlier. "Oh it is you! You were so beautiful I almost didn't recognize you. Though your current form has its own charm." He winked at her.

Alice and Leticia groaned.

"Do they arrest lolicons here?" Alice asked.

"Yes, let us call for help," Leticia said.

"Hey, hey now, wait a minute," Arsene raised his hands up and protested. "I love all beautiful women but I won't go down that route."

"Lolicon route?" Alice said with a blank face. "You're not an eroge protagonist Ar-san."

"How do you know about eroges?"

"Onii-chan had some back before we were transported here _._ "

"But how did you know about loli ro—"

"I played them out of curiosity."

"Oh," Arsene decided to drop the subject and turned to Leticia. "In any case, forgive us for what happened. Alice really doesn't know how to back and she tends to terrify both enemies and allies alike."

"Teehee!" Alice bopped her own head.

Leticia nodded in understanding. Looking at Alice, that was most definitely the case. But she was also worried. Leticia felt like Alice was a loose cannon who could potentially hurt everyone within radius. Not even her comrades are safe if she decided to go all out. There was also the intense malice she can generate. If she were to be honest, Leticia could hardly fathom that Alice was the source but her senses told her that Alice was indeed the source of the dread she felt.

It terrified her that a child who was not that older than Jin was capable who releasing such an aura.

"Alright!" Arsene clapped his hands bringing Leticia out of her thoughts. "We can't stay here forever so let's get out of this place." He moves towards the unconscious Asuka and reaches out to her…

…Only for his hand to be slapped by Alice. And judging by the sound, it was a rather hard slap.

"Hey, what gives?" Arsene says as he rubs his hand.

"Alice isn't going to trust Ar-san in handling a sleeping girl," Alice replied in a matter of fact tone. "Ar-san might even try to touch Asuka-chan's legs and butt if he tried to carry her."

"Oh Alice," Arsene chuckles at the jab against him. "I'm a sneaky thief but I don't sneak like that."

Alice doesn't respond and only turns to Leticia. "Since Alice was responsible for making Asuka-san faint, Alice will carry her."

"Oh dear, I've been ignored."

"No," Leticia shook her head. "It was because of my carelessness that this happened so allow me to carry her back."

"I don't think that's necessary," Arsene said. "Asuka-chan's waking up."

Indeed the young girl had started to stir. Slowly, Asuka got up while holding her head. She felt like she just hurled her lunch and breakfast from yesterday. She vaguely remembered fainting after Alice arrived and annihilated the rats.

"Hey there sleepyhead," Alice said she leaned closer causing Asuka to get startled and backed away a bit. "Alice wasn't expecting that reaction but whatever. Where's that tiny fairy that you were chasing earlier?"

Her eyes widened as she remembered her tiny new friend. She was about to panic when the fairy in question leapt out of her bosom and into her hand.

"Asuka!" the fairy said.

"Oh thank goodness!" Asuka sighed in relief. "You're safe."

"Alright!" Alice exclaimed. "Let's crush it."

Okay maybe she said that a little too soon.

"What?!" Asuka exclaimed as she shielded her friend. "No! I won't let you!"

"Yeah, Alice," Arsene said, just as flabbergasted as Asuka. "I mean look, it's so cute."

"It's a fairy Ar-san," Alice said. "Who knows what it will do? Fairies aren't as nice as you read them in stories. They are quite mischievous and often think of humans as their toys. To quote, _'up there in the mountain, down the rushy glen, we dare not go a-hunting, for fear of little men'._ "

"' _The Fairies'_ by William Allingham," Leticia said.

"Yup!" Alice beamed. "Now do you see, Asuka-chan? Another example would be Rip Van Winkle. He went to the woods, met a strange man who was a fairy, had some homemade moonshine, fell asleep and boom! When he woke up, many years had passed."

"But—"

"And then there are those versions of _'Tam Lin'—_ "

"Alice," Arsene said in an uncharacteristically stern voice. "No."

"Why?"

"Just no."

"Alice doesn't get it but okay."

"Alice, give the little fellow a chance," Arsene said. Alice was about to argue that taking chances would not be ideal if one was dealing with a fair folk but Arsene followed up with the magic word. "I mean look at her, she's so cute. Makoto would be sad if you killed such a cute fellow."

"Okay," Alice immediately concedes.

' _So the magic word is 'Makoto','_ Leticia and Asuka thought.

"Let's get out of here," Arsene said. "Asuka-chan looks like she needs to clean up."

Looking at Asuka, that was indeed the case. Her dress was dirty, especially since she lied down on the ground for a bit. Her clothes also had some tatters but nothing that can't be fixed. She didn't want to stay in such a state so they hurried back to [Thousand Eyes].

She wasn't prepared for the scolding she received from the shopkeeper for trying to enter the shop being that dirty but thanks to Arsene, the scolding was cut short. Asuka felt that this is the first time that she was grateful for someone being annoying.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

— [Thousand Eyes] Bathhouse.

Asuka lets out a dissatisfied sigh.

She had been outmatched by a couple of rats. She couldn't help but feel so useless without her [Gift]. If her [Gift] didn't work, then she was practically a sitting duck. She was too reliant on it. She didn't have the strength of Izayoi or Yo. Asuka sunk further down the hot spring.

This wasn't the only time she felt powerless. There was also that time when she faced Laius. Her [Gift] had not worked at him.

There was also the fact that she had to be saved. If Alice hadn't arrived what would've happened? She didn't like to think about what would've happened.

"Are you sulking?" Asuka let out a small shriek. It seems that there was another person in the hot springs. She looked towards the direction where the voice came from and saw a blonde girl. She first thought it was Leticia but soon realized that it was Alice due to the slight sadistic glint in her eyes. It seems that she did plan on startling Asuka. "That was a rather cute shriek, Asuka-chan."

"Since when were you here?"

"Alice has been here for quite a while," Alice replied. "But it seems that you were too preoccupied with your thoughts that you didn't notice Alice."

"I see…" Asuka replied.

There was a pregnant silence between the two girls in the hot spring. Neither said anything until Alice spoke up. "You know…"

"What?"

"You're pretty weak Asuka-chan."

Ouch, she didn't even hold back. Despite seeing Asuka offended, Alice continues to press on. "If your [Gift] doesn't work, then you're just a normal girl. You don't even know how to properly wield a sword."

"I know that," Asuka spat out almost resentfully. "But what point is there in slapping that fact into my face?"

Alice looked at her with serious eyes, the most serious Asuka had seen since they met, and said. "Alice thinks that you should focus on improving your combat skills. Onii-chan is quite good in combat, Alice can tell him to teach how to properly fight."

"Eh?"

"Do you want Onii-chan to teach you?" Alice asked in a serious voice.

Asuka contemplated. Indeed the way she is now, she won't be that much of a help when it comes to direct combats, which happens more often than not. If she continued being like this, then she'll be nothing but dead weight to Yo and Izayoi.

But just as she was about to answer Alice's proposal, the door to the baths open revealing a very frantic and very worried Kuro Usagi.

"Asuka-san! Are you alright!?" the rabbit wearing only a bath towel frantically asked. She was soon followed by an a white haired loli [Demon Lord].

"Hold it, Kuro Usagi! You can't just step into the baths before the master!"

It didn't need to be said that it ended in a comical note. Shiroyasha hugged Kuro Usagi by the waist and the due ended tumbling into the bath, with Kuro Usagi landing in head first. Alice giggled at the sight.

"This is so entertaining," Alice continued to giggle causing Asuka to give her a flat look before turning her attention to Kuro Usagi.

"Are you alright Kuro Usagi?" Asuka asked in concern. "You landed head first."

That was an understatement. Kuro Usagi's head was inserted into the ground.

"Yesh… am... ogey! Aw yu ogey, Ashuka-shan!?" the rabbit said while her head was still burrowed on the ground.

 _Translation: Yes…I'm…okay! Are you okay, Asuka-san?!_

Shiroyasha decided to yank Kuro Usagi out by grabbing her rabbit ears. After being yanked out, she immediately returned to checking Asuka's well-being.

"Are your wounds fine? There's no infections right? No scars left in your maiden skin?"

"N-no," Asuka said a little overwhelmed by the rabbit's concern. "I'm fine Kuro Usagi. The water healed them."

Despite that, Kuro Usagi still checked her body for any possible wounds. Asuka didn't push her away as she was doing this out of good will.

"Um…Ero Usagi," Alice said causing the rabbit to turn towards. "It's of goodwill and all, but to Alice it looks like you're harassing Asuka-chan."

"Alice-san!" Kuro Usagi exclaimed. "Thank you for saving Asuka-san."

"Don't mention it Ero Usagi."

"Ero Usagi?"

"Well, you wear some clothes that are rather erotic and you have an erotic body. Alice thinks that everything about you is about being ero and thus Alice will call you Ero Usagi."

"Kuro Usagi isn't erotic!" the rabbit exclaimed, exasperated.

"Is that true Shiroyasha?" Alice asked the white haired [Floor Master]. "Is Kuro Usagi not erotic?"

"Of course she is erotic," Shiroyasha said in a serious voice. "Kuro Usagi is the most erotic rabbit in the world! No! She is the definition of erotic! Kuro Usagi is eroticism personified!"

*Pak* Kuro Usagi threw a wooden barrel to Shiroyasha's face.

"Kuro Usagi is not eroticism personified!" Kuro Usagi denied with all her might. She then took a look at Alice's face and saw that the young girl had a grin that was practically ear to ear in amusement. Kuro Usagi sighed.

"Alice-san is also a problem child," Kuro Usagi sighed in defeat causing the young girl to laugh.

"Yup," Alice happily agrees much to Kuro Usagi's dismay. "Alice is the resident problem child of [XXI: Universe]."

"That isn't something that you should declare so proudly," Kuro Usagi massages her temples. A slight part of her was suddenly relieved that Alice didn't join the [No Name]. Her hands were already full with three, and Alice seems to be a bigger problem child than those three combined.

More people started to get inside the bath. It was Yo, Lily, and Leticia. Lily immediately gave a yelp when she saw Alice. Leticia eyed her suspiciously. Alice sighed. It seems that Leticia won't just let that go.

"Alice-san," Lily went towards Alice eventually sitting down beside her. "Ummm…"

"Yes Lily?" Alice smiled.

"Ummmm…" Lily started to fidget. Alice grins.

"Are you curious at what happened after Jin and Alice got separated from you?"

"Y-yes!" Alice's grin widened. Oh she was going to have fun with this.

"Hmmmm," Alice hums and gives out a mischievous smile. "You want to know the details of the date?"

"D-d-d-d-date!?"

"Two people walking around a lively festival and having a fun," Alice taps her chin with a mischievous smile. "It was indeed a date."

Lily's mouth was open in shock as her face was red as a ripe tomato. "W-what happened?"

"Give her the real story please," Leticia said. She positioned herself beside Alice. She did not want to let a walking bomb alone with Lily.

"Oh booo~" Alice pouted. Well, there goes her amusement.

Lily didn't know why but she felt grateful to Leticia. It was like she was saved from something so mortifying.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

Laius' face was like a hardboiled detective. His eyes were like a lion's when it was hunting prey, capable of instilling fear to the weak. He rubbed his chin with his right hand as he looked down. Arsene, who was at his opposite, was smiling as he watched Laius.

"Could you hurry up with your move, this is starting to get boring," Arsene said. His tone wasn't bored. It was smug. He had the tone of someone who was winning and decided to gloat about it at the opponent. "You're going to lose anyway so don't bother thinking. It's doing a number on your brain after all."

"Shut up," Laius gritted his teeth. Izayoi chuckled as he watched the chess match between the two. It was utterly one sided though. No matter what move Laius makes, the match would be decided.

"Kuh," Laius sighed. He really doesn't have a chance to win in this game. It would be humiliating for him to resign but it would be more humiliating for him to struggle and let Arsene go for checkmate. Arsene would probably mock him for thinking that he had a chance. Laius reached out the king and gently tipped it, signaling his resignation.

"Hmph," Arsene smiles smugly. A vein popped on Laius' head. "At least you know when you're out matched. But you should've definitely realized that from the start."

"Shut up," Laius sighed. He after his loss to Makoto he started to not mind losing to someone but he absolutely does not want to lose to Arsene. Especially with that smug attitude that he always had when he wins.

One day he'll wipe that stupid smug grin off of Arsene's face and gloat at him. Laius promised that to himself.

"So," Izayoi said getting Laius' attention. "How did you come to be a guest in Makoto's Community?"

"Kid just took me in," Laius said. "I didn't want to be but I was taken in anyway."

"Does he know about the things you did?"

"Probably," Laius said. "Kid's a lot smarter than he looks. He's also probably just acting like a problem child."

But he probably enjoys being a problem child and annoying people.

"So how strong is he," Izayoi asked with a grin.

"He kicked my ass thoroughly," Laius said.

"But anyone can do that."

"Shut up," Laius said.

"Heh," Izayoi grinned. "To be honest, the current you is a lot more tolerable."

"Hmph," Laius scoffed.

"Want another match?" Arsene challenged with a smug grin on his face. He was certainly confident that he would win.

Just as Laius was going to answer the girls had gotten out of the baths. Kuro Usagi glared at him when they saw him while Yoh and Asuka, having already met him again, were indifferent. Leticia on the other hand had an accepting look, which kind of made Laius uncomfortable and turned away.

In contrast, Izayoi and Arsene were actively ogling the girls.

"Look at the sight before us Arsene," Izayoi said as he scanned the girls. "It is quite lovely, isn't it?"

"You're most definitely right, Izayoi," Arsene said while nodding his head. "It feels as if the heavens itself has blessed us with this sight."

Izayoi began to point out all of the things about the girls that made them rather erotic in a perverted way. Arsene supplied info which Izayoi missed and the two perverts eyes glint mischievously. In the end they both got hit by wooden barrels on their faces. Laius sighed at the pervertedness of the two.

Then he remembered that he used to do that, making him cringe at his own hypocrisy.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

— Nighttime, [Thousand Eyes], Shiroyasha's guest room.

Leticia, Arsene, Lily, Laius, and the female shopkeeper didn't stick around with them. The occupants were currently Shiroyasha, Izayoi, Yo, Asuka, Jin, Kuro Usagi, and Alice.

Sitting at the center, Shiroyasha announced. "Let us now start the discussion on how to make Kuro Usagi's referee outfit cuter and sexier!"

"No we will not!" No points guessing who.

"Yes we will!" Another no points for guessing.

"No. We. Will. Not!"

"Is it even possible for Ero Usagi to become more erotic?" Alice asked pressing a finger near her lips and smiling. "Won't she ascend from Ero Usagi to Chou Ero Usagi?"

"Alice-san!"

"If we don't know then we shall explore!" Shiroyasha declared. "If it is impossible, then I shall make it possible! Who the hell do you think I am?!"

Asuka sighed. She really couldn't handle it when Shiroyasha and Izayoi start on their antics and to make matters worse, Alice joins. Despite not being a pervert, she would gladly jump in on an opportunity to tease others.

She then remembered about her red dress.

"Oh yeah, Shiroyasha made Kuro Usagi's clothing right? What about the red dress that I have?"

"Oh! I knew it looked familiar!" Shiroyasha said. "Kuro Usagi said she liked that dress however, it didn't look good on her. After all, hiding such beautiful legs would be quite the crime..."

"It was rejected due to Shiroyasha-sama's...ideas," Kuro Usagi stated. "The dress was very cute though, and Kuro Usagi thought that it would suit Asuka-san better."

Alice was looking at Asuka with curious eyes. It made the young lady quite uncomfortable. "Ummm...What is it Alice-san?"

"Oh nothing," Alice said. "Alice was just thinking on how Asuka-san would look like in a kimono or yukata."

"Ooooh, a kimono huh," Shiroyasha remarked. "Kimonos are good but they cover too much."

"That's kind of what Onii-chan likes," Alice said. "Ladies wearing proper dress that doesn't show much. Look at Alice's dress, it doesn't show much skin but it makes Alice look a lot cuter don't you think, Jin-kun?"

"Eh?" Jin blushes. "Why my opinion in particular?"

"Why do you think?" Alice flashes him a mischievous smile that not only made Jin shiver but also made him blush harder. Alice leaned over to his side and whispered to his ear. "Maybe Alice just wants Jin-kun's opinion in particular."

"I-I-I think Alice-san looks cute!" Jin stammers.

"Seriously, Ochibi-sama already has Sandora but is also aiming for Alice," Izayoi said with a grin. "That's a harsh path you're trying to tackle."

"It's not like that!" Jin blushes harder.

Izayoi laughed while Alice giggled. Jin sighed. These two in a room together are quite problematic. It's fitting since they are the biggest problem child of their respective Communities. Jin wonders how Makoto deals with Alice.

"Makoto-san also makes clothes?" Kuro Usagi asked.

"Yup, he rarely makes perverted clothes though."

Kuro Usagi smiled and had a hopeful look. Alice seeing the opportunity crushed that hope. "Erotic clothes suits Ero Usagi better. After all you have a sexy body, it's waste to hide that. Ero Usagi should be proud of her body, Ero Usagi should flaunt it as much as she likes!"

""Yes! She should!"" Shiroyasha and Izayoi said in vigor pumping their fists.

"Kuro Usagi will not!" how many times has she said that?

Shiroyasha gave out a hearty laugh before speaking again. "Anyway, we've strayed from our topic long enough now. I actually want Kuro Usagi to be the referee of the match tomorrow."

Kuro Usagi tilted her head. "That's quite abrupt. Why does Shiroyasha-sama want Kuro Usagi to be the referee?"

"It's because of the commotion you two caused. Because of that said commotion, the fact that a [Moon Rabbit] is here has spread around. The crowd is looking forward to see the [Moon Rabbit] in tomorrow's [Gift Game]. Since the news was made public, we would have to let you go on stage. Also, think of this as penalty for causing quite the ruckus."

"Kuro Usagi understands, Kuro Usagi will be the referee tomorrow."

The discussion once again went towards the perverted clothing that Shiroyasha wants Kuro Usagi who vehemently refuses with Izayoi backing up Shiroyasha against Kuro Usagi and Kuro Usagi getting angry. That was the case until Yo spoke up.

"Umm, Shiroyasha," Yo said. "Who will I be facing tomorrow?"

"Sorry, but I can't tell you that. It would give an unfair advantage. The [Host] shouldn't be giving out advantages, even if it is for a friend. The only thing that you'll know is the name of the Communities," with a snap of her fingers, a parchment appeared. Written on it were the names of [No Name], [Salamandra], [Will-o-wisp], and [Rattenfänger]. Alice's eyes immediately narrowed on the last one while Asuka gasped in shock.

"[Will-o-wisp], and [Rattenfänger]!?"

"Unn," Shiroyasha nodded her head. "They are Communities from 6-digit Outer Gate, the next floor. I cannot tell you much but I advise you to be prepared for everything."

Yo nodded while Izayoi looked at the parchment. "[Rattenfänger]? [Rat Catching Clown]... so the opponent tomorrow is the Pied Piper of Hamelin?"

Asuka's eyes widened and her eyes darted off to her little friend who was on her lap. Alice noticed and also looked at the fairy.

She wasn't the only one who was shocked as Kuro Usagi and Shiroyasha also spoked up.

"W-what did you say? The [Pied Piper of Hamelin]?"

"What are you saying, kid? Explain in detail."

Izayoi couldn't help but blink repeatedly at their surprise. Shiroyasha sighed and started her questioning in a low tone.

"Sorry. You probably didn't know but… The [Pied Piper of Hamelin] is the name of Community who served a [Demon Lord]."

"What?"

"The Community of the [Demon Lord] is called the [Grimm Grimoire]. The [Demon Lord] summoned demons from over 200 grimoires, hence the name."

Demons using 200 grimoires? Makoto could summon the whole [Ars Goetia] and the [Seven Demons of Sin] with just a snap of his fingers. Alice nearly slipped that information but she caught herself.

"Multiple demons can be summoned by using just one Grimoire. The grimoires had well-defined rules and coercive power, a truly terrifying and powerful [Demon Lord]."

Hearing that information, Izayoi's eyes began to glint with excitement.

"When the [Demon Lord] was defeated, he was believed to have died, but if [Rattenfänger] is the [Pied Piper of Hamelin]..." Kuro Usagi said. "Kuro Usagi isn't well-versed in children's stories, so just in case, could Izayoi-san give a proper explanation?"

"Oh," Izayoi raised an eyebrow. He then tapped Jin on the back. "If that's the case our Ochibi-sama would be able to explain it in a much clearer detail."

Izayoi leaned a bit and whispered to the young boy. "Alright, this is your chance."

"Ye-Yes!"

"Ganbare, Jin-kun," Alice smiled. Jin blushed and nodded. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"[Rattenfänger] means [Rat Catcher] in German, it's a metaphor relating to the story written by the Brothers Grimm, [Pied Piper of Hamelin]," everyone nodded their heads, Jin cleared his throat once again before continuing.

"[Pied Piper of Hamelin] is one of the stories written by the Brothers Grimm that used history as a reference. The reference was Hamelin, where the story took place."

A transcript, which became the prototype of the Brother Grimm's [Pied Piper of Hamelin], read as follows

— _In 1284 on the day of John and Paul on 26th June_

 _130 children born in Hamelin were led away by a piper [clothed] in many colours to [their] Calvary near the Koppen, [and] lost'._

It was something that was based on a real event, and thus became the basis of th Brothers Grimm's tale.

"So why is the rat catcher a metaphor?" Shiroyasha asked the young leader

"The clown that was featured was a clown that could catch rats," Jin answers smoothly.

"That's was great Jin-kun," Alice said cheerfully. Jin blushes at the compliment. "You can rest your head in Alice's lap as a prize."

"Eh!?" Jin immediately got flustered.

Alice pats her lap fully expecting Jin to lay his head on it. Izayoi was openly laughing now. Alice had a mischievous smile like she was enjoying Jin's embarrassment much to his displeasure. "Come on, Jin-kun."

"E-eh…"

"I'd like to rest my head on that lap," Shiroyasha said.

"Sorry, only one person can rest their head on Alice's lap," Alice replied. "Now come on Jin-kun, don't be shy."

"Uhh, ummm, ehhh.." Jin's brain was short circuiting.

"What's wrong?" Alice said.

"I think you broke him," Izayoi said with a grin.

"Oh you poor thing," Alice said. She reaches out to him, pulled him down and rests his head on her lap.

"There, there," Alice said as she stroked his hair. Jin tried to get back up but Alice held him in place. Jin sighed and allowed himself to rest on Alice's lap. He kind of enjoyed it to be honest.

"Well in any case," Shiroyasha said. "The chances of the [Demon Lord]'s remnants trying to sneak in the festival is rather high."

"Yes," Kuro Usagi said. "Especially since they can't make use of the [Host Master Authority]."

"Eh? What? First I've heard of that."

"I've arranged some countermeasures against the [Demon Lord]. Using my own [Host Master Authority], I included some additional rules to for the festival."

Shiroyasha snapped her fingers again and another parchment appeared. On it read:

 **[§ Birth of the Fire dragon Festival § ]**

 **·Various matters to note when attending the Festival.**

 **1\. Prohibition of the usage of the stage area by ordinary participants , gift games should be held in the free area.**

 **2\. If there is no permission from the hosts of the festival, those with [Host Master Authority] are prohibited to enter the festival area.**

 **3\. Participants are prohibited from using [Host Master Authority] in the festival area.**

 **4\. Other than the participants, outsiders are prohibited from entering the Festival's stage area or the free area.**

 **Oath: Respecting the described content, the two communities that host this Gift game based on their glory and flag.**

 **[Thousand Eyes] Stamp**

 **[Salamandra] Stamp**

"I see," Izayoi said as he studied the parchment. "By forbidding people aside from participants from entering the [Game] and the use of the [Host Master Authority], the [Demon Lord] attacking would lose one of their only advantages.

"That's correct. Anything that can be stopped has been stopped."

Izayoi nodded his head. Alice on the other hand looked unconvinced. If this world truly ran on [Gift Games], then people would at least try to find loopholes in rules. Makoto really loves doing that.

"By the way, Jin-kun," Alice asked the boy in her lap, causing the said boy to look up towards her. "Where did you learn the information about the [Pied Piper of Hamelin]?"

"Oh… It's nothing special," Jin said. "I just read most of the books in the stockroom with Izayoi-san."

"Don't be like that Jin-kun," Alice said. "You should at least be proud of yourself."

"She's right, Jin-bocchan," Kuro Usagi said. "After all, Jin-bocchan managed to acquire some good information."

The rest nodded at that except for Asuka, who looked like she was feeling something unsettling. Alice noticed that she was looking at the fairy but she decided not to say anything.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

Laius was currently outside feeling the night's soft breeze. He looked at the stars and became a bit down hearted when he saw that the Perseus constellation was nowhere to be found. Shiroyasha had brought it down after their defeat after all.

"Are? Lui-Lui-san," Laius turned around and saw Alice. It seems that their meeting with Shiroyasha was over. He was quite surprised to see her here though. Especially since she seemed quite attached to the young leader of [No Name]. Which, of course, made Laius quite confused since Alice seems to be the type who can't stop talking about her 'Onii-chan'. "What might you be doing here? Did Ar-san beat you in another game of chess?"

"Leave me alone, brat," Laius sighed. He wasn't in the mood for her antics. "And I told you not to call me that."

"That won't stop Alice," She said puffing out her chest proudly. "Alice is quite stubborn and a problem child after all."

"I wonder what that kid would think if he was here?"

"Onii-chan? Oh he's fine as long as Alice doesn't go overboard. Onii-chan is quite forgiving and accepting after all," Alice said. "Well forgiving, provided that you don't push some of his major buttons."

"That kid has major buttons?" Laius looked at her dumbfounded. "The kid's too carefree and nice, he didn't even feel like a proper leader."

Alice glared at him at the last part. "Onii-chan's a good leader. Once the [XXI: Universe] gets bigger and Communities starts to be under our [Flag], you'll know what I'm talking about."

Well if she dropped the third person, then she must be really serious. "Onii-chan also doesn't like to show it but when pushed a bit too far, he does show an extremely ruthless side."

Laius turned to look at the stars once again. "Hmm?" Alice followed his suit. "Oh? Now that Alice's gotten a good look at it, the Perseus constellation seems to be missing."

"That happened after our loss to the [No Name]," Laius didn't know why but he answered Alice's question. "After our defeat, we got booted out of [Thousand Eyes] and so the constellation disappeared from the sky as well."

"Oh, that's quite sad," Alice said. Laius felt that she had at least meant it.

"Now that [Perseus] is gone, I feel like I have nowhere to go," Laius said. "I've been in [Perseus] for as long as I can remember."

"Is that so?" Alice said. "Then why don't you join us?"

"What?" Laius turned towards her.

"Alice is pretty sure that Onii-chan would accept you," Alice said. "After all, as Alice had said, Onii-chan is accepting. Or else he would've left you alone."

Laius didn't answer. "You can think about it later," Alice said as she went back inside the shop.

Laius just stood there looking at the sky. Will that kid really accept him? He's been a major douchebag for quite a while and he did some pretty nasty things like that slave trading business.

"Do I really deserve a second chance?" Laius whispered to himself.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—[Salamandra] border

"Man look at this place," a man in a black suit whistled. The man was practically wearing all black. He wore a black fedora, a black coat, black pants and shoes. He could've blended with the night if his hair was black instead of brown. His left eye was covered by an eye patch.

It was the same man that Alice had seen earlier. He looked at [Salamandra] with an amused eye. The amusement wasn't the type of amusement you wanted to see. It was malicious amusement.

"You're here," the man in black turned and saw Highness.

"Oh Highness, you're still here," the man replied.

"Hey!" a girl beside highness raised her voice. "You can't just talk casually to him like that!"

"I will talk however I want to talk," the man smirked.

"It seems that you want to lose your other eye," the girl went for her weapons.

"Rin," Highness said in a stern voice. Immediately the girl, Rin, stopped and looked at him. "It's okay."

Highness turned his attention to the black clad man. The man smiled. "You know what you have to do right?"

"Ah," the man said. "Make, I'll make their [Game] more challenging and exciting."

"Just try not to go overboard."

"You know me, Highness."

"Yeah, you don't give a damn about anyone. Ally or not."

"You got me there."

"Well? Isn't it about time you go meet up with them..." Highness said.

"Akechi Goro."

Goro smiled.

 **[Side: Underwood]**

— [Underwood], Queen Halloween's room.

"Hmm…" Makoto hummed as he smiled at the Queen who returned it. "Messiah? Isn't that a bit too flattering? I haven't even saved a single life yet. Well, perhaps I did save one if you count Laius."

' _I don't think it's a good idea lying to Queen Halloween,'_ Cana warned. There was a dangerous edge in her voice.

' _She looks friendly to me.'_

' _Are you forgetting that she's one of the Three Great Problem Children of Little Garden?'_

"Please don't try to bluff," the Queen said smiling. She places her hand on her chin and her smile widened. "I know your past deeds of stopping the [Fall] and that other tragedy. Though, you mostly just assisted in the second one."

Makoto raised an eyebrow at that. "Other tragedy? Second one?"

"You didn't deny stopping the [Fall]," Queen pointed out and Makoto realized that slipped up. "There, now please stop lying. I don't know why you want to hide the fact that you saved the world but you should stop."

Makoto sighed. She got him there. Makoto: 0, Queen Halloween: 1. Quite impressive nobody usually gets a point from him. "Saving the world wasn't really a happy experience." He looked down remembering the pain of parting with them. He didn't want to die but he had to anyway, for their sake. "But what do you mean about the second one?"

It was Queen's turn to widen her eyes. "You don't remember that?"

"Remember what?" Makoto said. "And why do you know about the [Fall]?"

"I usually take a look at the world outside of Little Garden," the Queen replied. "I saw you at the final battle against [Nyx], and when you were about to seal her away from [Erebus]."

"I see…" he mumbled. "But what about the other one that you were talking about?"

"You really don't remember?," she said.

Makoto was seriously getting confused. He was dead for a hundred year. He never fought another apocalyptic event after getting resurrected.

"Don't you get any dreams?" the Queen asked.

"Dreams?" Makoto thought for a while.

Dreams…

!

Makoto's eyes widened. During the first periods of his reincarnation, he had multiple weird dreams. The dreams would usually include a brunette boy whose hair reached up to his neck, a boy who looked like Arsene, and a doctor. They started to stop after the sixth month.

"People often dream of things that really happened," the Queen explains.

"I see… so the [Fall] was the second one."

"No," Makoto's eyes snapped back at Queen Halloween. "I already told you, you mostly assisted in the second one. You are a major player during the [Fall]. See how it contradicts each other?"

"You mean…I reincarnated and then died again and then reincarnated again."

"Not quite," the Queen said. "I can tell you but I won't."

"Oh great," Makoto groaned. "I was used to deciphering the words of an old man with a long nose, but this is the first time that I was outright denied of an answer."

The Queen chuckled. "I don't want to tell you because that's for you to remember."

"I'm sensing that you also don't want to tell me because you want to mess with me," Makoto said with a straight face.

"Oh dear, is that what you really think?" she said in mock surprise which was followed up with a giggle. "That is also correct." Queen Halloween gave him a smile and Makoto sighed. Though it may be hard to believe, that sigh was actually a playful sigh. "Well enough of that, let's get to why I wanted to speak with you."

"Oh yes," Makoto smiled. "Why was I called here?"

"Well it's just a simple request, Makoto," Queen Halloween returned his smile.

"Become mine."

…

…

…

That…was rather straightforward. If it was the usual Makoto, he would've answered swiftly and smoothly.

"Excuse me," but this isn't the usual Makoto as he was so blown back by the straightforward request that he couldn't keep in character. Queen Halloween had actually rendered him dumbfounded. "What?"

Queen Halloween smiled at him. "It is as I said. Become mine. Let [XXI: Universe] become part of the Communities under me."

"Oh so that's what you meant."

"Are you disappointed? Were you thinking of something else?" she teased.

"As a matter of fact," Makoto smiled. He's already regained composure. It's time for a counterattack. "Yes. I was thinking that you wanted me to become yours in _that_ way."

"Oh my," the Queen played along. "Sorry for disappointing you. Now, why don't we go back to my offer?"

"If it's about that," Makoto said, taping his chin with his index finger. "I can't deny that it is a great offer and there will be benefits if we joined you."

"So you accept?"

"I appreciate the offer," Makoto smiled. Then he did the best impression of that man from a show he liked. "But I refuse."

"Hmm?" The Queen lost her smile for the first time but it returned almost immediately. "Why is that?"

"I want [XXI: Universe] to grow by itself," Makoto said. "I don't want to it to be recognized just because I have the backing of someone very well regarded in Little Garden."

"Is that so?" the Queen said.

"Yeah, sorry," Makoto smiles sheepishly. "Thanks for the offer though."

"That's fine," the Queen smiles at him. It was a beautiful smile but it wasn't a smile that he liked though. It was the kind of smile that he would usually have when he teased Namie or Shirayuki. "Though your refusal does make me want you to join me more."

"I thought refusals were supposed to dissuade people."

"No refusal is going to stop me," the Queen said. "Now, on to the next one."

"There's more?"

"Yes," the Queen's face became serious. "What do you plan on doing with Algol?"

"Algol?" Makoto said. "Why would you want to know that?"

"She is part of the Three Great Problem Children of Little Garden, along with me and Shiroyasha so I was quite curious."

Makoto took out the necklace from his pocket and showed it to Queen Halloween. "She's been trapped for a long time right?"

The Queen nodded getting a hint in where he was going with this.

"So I figured," Makoto smiles as he looks at Algol. "I might try to set her free."

"She's been bound to Laius for quite a while now," the Queen said. "Do you really think that you can set her free?"

"We'll never know until we try," Makoto gave her a confident smile. "And I'm pretty sure that I can."

"You're always brimming with confidence."

"If one is not confident, then how is he supposed to lead?"

"Well then, I'm not going to stop you with that," the Queen takes a sip off her tea. "I was mostly neutral about her but Shiroyasha was not. I remember her crying herself to sleep due to Algol."

Makoto chuckled. "Really? Shiroyasha did?"

Queen Halloween giggled. "Yes. You should've seen it."

"Maybe I will in the future," Makoto said as he sips his tea.

Queen Halloween smiles at him. He is really intriguing. Not many can just have a casual talk with her but here he is doing just that. Maybe it's because of his charisma? No. It would take more than that. Perhaps it's because he is truly enjoying their talk.

"You're really enjoying your time here," she speaks what's on her mind.

Makoto smiles as he lets down the cup of tea. "Of course, having a chat with someone as beautiful as you is quite enjoyable."

"Oh my," the Queen places a hand to her mouth and giggled. She also had a slight blush on her face. "Well aren't you a charmer."

Being a charmer is putting it lightly. Yukari, Yuko, Mitsuru, Elizabeth, Aigis, Fuuka, and Chihiro were explicitly attracted to him. Maika had a precocious crush on him. Ms. Toriumi had a soft side for him. Heck, even those stuck up bimbos from the Yakushima trip were interested in him.

Remembering all that…. hooo boy.

"Well," Queen Halloween's voice brought him back to reality. "What are you going to do now after this? Are you going to [Salamandra]?"

"I'd love to but," Makoto's expression turned serious as he set down his cup. "I think I'll stay here for a while and investigate the Apathy Syndrome, or Lost as you call it here."

Makoto can't just let the Apathy Syndrome alone. He always felt a pang of guilt as he looked at the people afflicted by it.

Queen Halloween hummed. "Perhaps you should go see Sala after this then. She's the Leader of the [One Horn] community and acting Leader of the [Draco Grief Alliance]."

"I'll make sure to do that," Makoto said. He looked at his cup of tea and found that it was empty now. A pity, he like the tea. "We'll, I guess this is end of our meeting."

"Yes," the Queen smiles at him. "But please don't assume that this is our last meeting. Expect me again some other time."

"I'll be expecting you with great anticipation," Makoto replied as he left the room.

The Queen was now left behind alone in her room. She giggled. "Though, she didn't talk it was nice meeting Canaria again. I wonder if it feels weird for Makoto to have a woman share his body?"

 **[Garden's Universe]**

— Queen Halloween's Guest Room

Makoto wasn't sure what he was expecting but it seems that Namie and Scathach are not getting along well. No scratch that. There were spears embedded on the wall, a sofa was broken in half, Shirayuki and Faceless were in the corner, probably to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

"What happened here?"

"Oh good timing," Scathach said as she continued to glare at Namie who also glared back. "Please tell your overprotective wife to calm down."

"I'm not his wife," Namie said, thought there was a slight tint of red on her face

"Honey, please calm down," Makoto said smiling. In the corner of his eye he could see Shirayuki puffing her cheeks and glaring at him. Is she jealous? Regardless, Shirayuki puffing her cheeks is cute, kind of makes you want to hug her or tease her more. Makoto will make sure to tease her later.

"Don't play along," Namie gave him a flat look. Shirayuki was nodding behind her back.

"Haha," Makoto laughed. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. So what happened?"

"She's still mad that I tried to stab you and it escalated before we knew it," Scathach replied.

"Namie, I wasn't hurt," Makoto sighed. Namie is can be sweet but she's also overprotective despite not looking like it. "No harm done."

"How can you be so lax?"

"Because, there wasn't any ill intent," Makoto said looking at Scathach. "If Scathach really wanted to maim me, she would've done a better job. The spear of the Lady of Dun Scaith wouldn't be blocked so easily."

Namie looks like she was about to argue so Makoto decided to interrupt her. "Well, we should get going. We got some important things to do."

"What?" Shirayuki finally said as she and Faceless move towards them.

"The Lost," Makoto said. "We can't just let this keep happening so we're going to investigate it and what causes it."

Well he already knew the cause but he didn't know why the cause is appearing.

Makoto turned to Scathach and bowed. "Thank you for having us," he then looked around the destroyed room and rubbed the back of his head. "Though, I don't know if your welcome to have us."

Scathach gave out a light laugh. "Oh, don't worry about this," she said. "This isn't anything too serious."

"Well then, we'll be going," Makoto said as he walked towards the door with Namie and Shirayuki in tow.

"Wait," Makoto turned around and saw Faceless. "I'll come with you."

"But aren't you Queen Halloween's knight?" Namie said. "Shouldn't you stay with your Queen?"

"You may also cause a commotion," Shirayuki added.

"Don't worry," Faceless said as as she materialized a hooded cloak and wore it. If you look at her closely, she kind of looks like that one character in a visual novel, especially since her hooded cloak was yellow. Scathach, who was behind her, was actually trying to suppress a giggle. "I am now inconspicuous."

"Yeah," Namie said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "You definitely don't look suspicious."

"Thank you," Faceless replies causing Namie to sigh.

"Is it okay if she accompanies us?" Makoto asked Scathach. She was probably Faceless' superior after all. Faceless may be Queen Halloween's favourite but in terms of skill, Makoto believed that Scathach was superior to Faceless. She trained many heroes after all, including the Setanta, who would later become the Cu Chulainn, the greatest Irish hero. She may have even trained Faceless.

"I don't see why not," she replied. "I don't think milady would mind as well. She may even send her to accompany you even if she didn't want to."

"I guess I can't disagree with that last part," Makoto said. He turned towards the masked knight and smiled. "Well, welcome aboard. Even if it is only temporary."

He held out his hand for a shake which the knight accepted.

"Perhaps you should also lose the cloak," Makoto said. "I don't think it suits you."

Faceless kind of looked disappointed when he said that. Makoto wondered why.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

The first step that they decided to do was get in contact with Sala Doltrake, as Queen Halloween suggested. It was easy finding her, they just needed to find where the 'Lost' was being held. Scathach decided not to come with them as she still needed to attend to the Queen as well as fix the devastated guest room.

They found a woman red haired woman with bronze skin looking at the crowd of 'Lost' she had a grim expression on her face and her fist were clenched tight. It seems that she was not liking the current situation.

"Hello," the woman turned around as Makoto greeted her. She gave him a stern look before her eyes landed on Faceless. Her eyes widened and she immediately approached them. "You must be Sala."

"Yes, and you are?"

"Ah, where are my manners," Makoto says smiling. "I am Yuuki Makoto, leader of the Community [XXI: Universe], pleased to meet you Sala-san."

"I am Namie," Namie introduced herself. "A subordinate."

"'Lord of the Tritonis Falls', Shirayuki," Shirayuki says.

"Ah, the new Community from the East side," Sala said looking at the impressed. "I've heard about you, it's also quite impressive that you managed to recruit The Lord of The Tritonis Falls . Now why would you be here?"

"Someone wanted to meet me," Makoto said, hiding the fact that the person in Question was Queen Halloween. "After meeting them, I've decided to help with this Lost epidemic."

Sala nodded. "I see."

"So when did it start? The Lost I mean."

"Around three months ago."

' _So it was before I arrived,'_ Makoto thought.

' _You sound relieved,'_ Cana commented. She felt that a dread was welling up in him and now it was gone.

' _Of course, I don't know what I'd do if this happened because of me arriving at Little Garden. Suddenly making [Shadows] active.'_

"It was something that not even our doctors were sure of," Sala said. "They didn't know what caused it or what it even is. The only thing that we know of is that the victim loses all of their will to live, become an apathetic husk."

"The numbers only grow with each passing day, whenever a day ends there's always a new patient with the Lost."

"I see," Makoto said putting his hand on his chin. "When do patients usually appear?"

"During the night or in the morning, they're also usually found inside their own homes."

"Has there been any patient that's arrived in the middle of the day?"

"Eh?" Sala looked puzzled at the question. It seems that she didn't expect that question. "No, why do you ask?"

"Well then, let's try to wait out until it's nighttime," Makoto said. "the culprit is operating at night."

"How so?" Sala said raising an eyebrow. Alright, exposition time.

"You said that there are no victims that have been reported during the middle of the day," Makoto began. "There's also the fact that they appear during the night or during mornings. If you put two and two together then it's safe to say that our culprit is operating during the night."

Sala nodded and Makoto continues. "There's also the fact that attacking during the day is risky for them and might get them caught."

"I think I understand," Sala said as she placed her hand on her chin.

"Though I still think it's good to have some alertness during the day. You never know it with these kind of guys."

"Hmmm," Sala looks at him suspiciously. Makoto smiles nervously as she continued to look at him. She sighed. "Nevermind, forget it. So we're going to have to wait till nighttime? Wouldn't it be harder?"

"Not to worry," Makoto says. "I'll be able to track them."

"How?"

"I'm good at tracking people," He can after all use Juno's sensory abilities.l Though her abilities was mainly used for tracking down Shadows, Juno can be used to track down humans and other things. Lucia can track Aigis after all, so her Ultimate form could most likely do it too.

"Can't you track them down now?"

"With this many people? I can but can we keep them all safe in case that the perpetrator decides to fight back?"

"You have a point."

"Well why don't you prepare for the night? Let's meet up again here after the sun sets."

"Heh, it's quite amusing since you just arrived yet you're already giving people orders," Sala said with a smile. "Though with your Community's reputation and how it managed to amass such in a short time, I guess it's justified."

"Haha, sorry," Makoto sheepishly said. "Force of habit I guess."

Makoto walked towards one of the patients. When Sala was about to ask what he was doing, he touched one of the Losts' forehead and chanted something she couldn't recognize. Suddenly a faint blue glow emitted from both him and the patient. That's when it happened.

The patient's eyes began to give out light again. Their breathing became much more stable and their skin began pale less, bringing back the healthy color. Makoto turned towards her and smiled. "What's with that face?"

Only then did Sala realize that her Jaw had dropped. She immediately recomposed herself and began to walk towards him. "What did you do?" She asked.

"I cured him," Makoto said casually as if he said that the afternoon was nice.

"Cured? None of us could even determine the cause much less cure it. How did you do it?" Sala demanded, nearly getting to his face. At the corner of his eyes, Makoto saw Namie looking with scorn, not only that, Shirayuki also got in the glaring. Those two are starting to get along real quick.

"Yeah," Makoto said nervously. He didn't mind the proximity, in fact he welcomed it. But her glare really makes it uncomfortable. "Could you move away for a bit? It's kind of uncomfortable."

Sala blinked a bit before backing off. "Well," Makoto said. "Let's just say it's a part of my [Gift]. I can cure a lot of things using it."

Technically, he wasn't lying. With the [Universe], he could virtually cure anything. From simple colds to the most deadly of diseases to even curses. But it wasn't limited to that.

"I see…" Sala didn't look convinced at all. In fact she's more suspicious of him now. Makoto sighed.

"Well, for now I'll be healing about 50 of the the affected," Makoto said. "Is that okay?"

"More than welcome," Sala said. "Please forgive me if I was a bit rude. These incidents are seriously taking a toll on us."

"Glad to help."

In the end he cured more than 50 and ended up curing about 100 due to people begging him.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

By the time that Makoto had finished it was already nearing sundown. He decided to sit on a bench near a fountain. Izanami and Faceless decided to gather information despite the fact that it was unnecessary.

"You look tired," Makoto turned and saw Shirayuki. She was giving him a drink. Makoto smiles and accepts it. He chugs down the drink and finished it in one go.

"Man, that's refreshing," Makoto said after drinking. "I was asked to heal so many people it was quite overwhelming."

"Yet you still healed them," Shirayuki says as she sat down beside him. "You could've refused and yet you agreed. Despite saying that you would only heal 50."

"Well, they were practically begging me to do it."

"You're too nice."

"Perhaps," Makoto says. "It's just in my nature."

"I see."

They sat together for couple of minutes in silence. It was the comfortable type of silence as opposed to the awkward one. Makoto smiles and stand up causing Shirayuki to look up towards him.

"Hey," Makoto says as he held out a hand to Shirayuki who blinked at the sudden gesture. "Want to go on a date?"

….

….

….

Shirayuki stared at him before finally registering his words.

"W-w-w-w-w-what?" Shirayuki blushed madly and stammers. Makoto smiles causing her to blush even more. "A D-d-d-date?"

"Yeah," Makoto says. "We've still got some time to kill before meeting up with Sala-san, so might as well make the most of it. Plus, I want to explore [Underwood]. What do you say? Want to go on a date?"

"I-I-I-I…" Shirayuki stammers. She racked up her brain for a proper response. She looks at his face and saw that his smile wasn't the usual teasing smile but a small smile. Shirayuki blushes harder. She breathes in and takes his hand.

"I-I g-guess I can go on with you," Shirayuki says looking away, embarrassed.

Makoto smiled. "Alright, let's go!"

He led the Shirayuki to the city despite not knowing layout of it. But that was alright. I would kind of make things more exciting for their date. As Shirayuki followed Makoto and looks at his genuine smile with no hint of mischievousness, she couldn't help but smile with him.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

Their date was fun. Makoto was quite the gentleman when he wasn't trying to be a problem child. He knew what things a girl would like and he knew how to act accordingly when on a date. A part of Shirayuki wondered if he's already been on a date. Chances were pretty high as he is quite handsome and cute. The thought, though, made Shirayuki irritated for some reason.

Nevertheless, she had fun on their date. So much fun that she didn't notice that the sun was setting. Currently they were at a cafe, eating a cake.

"Say 'aaaaah~'" Makoto said as he held out a strawberry towards Shirayuki.

"Eh?" Shirayuki made a dumb founded sound.

' _Shouldn't this be the other way around?'_ Cana commented.

' _She's too tsundere to do that.'_

' _Isn't that Namie's archetype?'_

' _I guess that's why they get along well.'_

"W-what?" Shirayuki's face reddened again. "I-I can feed myself! I'm a water goddess after all!"

"Then water goddess-sama, please allow this humble man to feed you," Makoto grinned. It seems that he was expecting that reaction. "A water goddess like you should be fed like a king. Now 'aaaaaa~'."

Shirayuki blushed harder. The look on his face doesn't have any prankster's smile on it. Just a genuine one who expects her to eat the strawberry. Shirayuki relented.

"Aaaaa~"

*chomp*

The strawberry was eaten. Not by Shirayuki.

"What are you two doing?" Namie said as she chewed on the strawberry, Faceless was right behind her. Shirayuki didn't know wether to be relieved or to be annoyed by her intervention. "The time to meet up with Sala is nearing, so we should get going."

"Oh yeah right," Makoto said getting up from his chair. He decided to finish up the cake and coffee fast as he didn't want to waste it. Shirayuki followed his gesture and begun to leave the cafe after Makoto paid the bills.

"Let's come here again another time," Makoto said looking at Shirayuki.

"Oh, uh," Shirayuki blushed and looked away a bit. "Okay, sure."

"Hey you two," Namie called out at them. "Hurry up. You were the one to give out the meeting time Makoto. You could at least try to the one on time."

"Yes, yes," Makoto said. "On my way. Let's go Shirayuki."

"Un," Shirayuki nodded following Makoto. She didn't know why but she was looking forward to coming here with him again.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"You're late," Sala said. "You should at least come on time since you were the one who suggested when to meet."

' _No you're just here too early,'_ Makoto almost said but once again he caught himself. He really knows how to not open his big mouth.

"Sorry, sorry," Makoto apologized, while rubbing his head. "Got a little caught up but anyways let's get this started."

Makoto suddenly jumps to the top of one of the buildings in the area and was followed by Namie and Faceless. Shirayuki and Sala were a little slow and were left behind but nonetheless caught up.

"Alright," Makoto said as he drew in Juno's power. He could feel it, the whole city was felt like it was a part of him. It was a bit difficult to concentrate as he also felt the whole population but he concentrated on what feels the most off.

" _Onii-chan! I want an ice cream sandwich,"_ Nope.

" _What the!?"_ Could it be? _"Why are the cabbages' price so high?!"_ Not this one.

" _Is your husband home?"_ He didn't need to hear that. Makoto focused a bit more.

"I got it!" He felt it. A dark aura around the edge of the city. In an abandoned alley. Wow that's super cliche but he decided to let that go. "Follow me."

Makoto proceeded to jump from roof-to-roof like a ninja. He's always felt like he's done this before despite the fact that he never once did. Maybe a part of his time during that missing period?

He was closely followed by Faceless and Izanami with Sala and Shirayuki right behind them. As they near the location a green dome suddenly appeared. They stopped at a nearby building to examine it.

"What is this thing?" Sala said. It was weird, they've never seen anything like this when they were patrolling during the night. "Nobody ever reported seeing anything like this.

Makoto went to get a closer look at the dome. As he got closer he got a rather familiar feeling. Yes, a familiar feeling he'd rather not remember. He looked closer and saw that there were coffins inside. His fears were confirmed.

Inside the dome was a miniature Dark Hour. It could've been made bigger but since he was here, they probably decided to try and sneak.

"Let's go in," Makoto said as he walked towards the inside of the dome. As he and Shirayuki passed safely…

"What!?" Shirayuki exclaimed her legs were being encased in shadows. Not only her, Sala and Faceless as well. They began struggling to move but couldn't. Faceless even had a slight look of frustration on her face.

"What's going on?!" Sala said in frustration as she tried to move her leg to no avail.

"Hold still," Makoto said as he started to use the power of the [Universe]. A bright blue glow started to envelop the girls and the shadows began fading. The [Universe] is really convenient. He could encase someone in protection. When protected him, they recieve all of the immunities and protection he has. Kind of like a party barrier.

"What in the world is this?" Shirayuki asked, Sala nodded her head in the question while Faceless stood silently. Man, does she ever react to anything? "And why are there coffins littered around?"

"Well this is—" He was suddenly cut off.

"An emulation of the Dark Hour. A hidden thirteenth hour where only those with potential can enter," A rather familiar voice said. It was a familiar voice that Makoto did not want to hear. "It's quite beautiful don't you agree. The presence of death is quite abundant. "

They all turned towards the direction where the voice came from. An extremely pale man appeared. He was skinny and tall. Everything about him was a contrast of black and white. He wore a white partially open dress shirt and a black coat. His ash blonde hair was long and wavy. He looked at them with cold glowing yellow eyes. He smirked at them. Something that irritated Makoto.

Even more so as he knew who this man was.

"That's a rather familiar face, though it's not a familiar face that I'd like to see," Makoto gritted his teeth and had a look of anger in his face. Faceless, Sala, and Shirayuki was surprised. They didn't know that Makoto could get angry. Especially since he's mostly flippant and carefree. "I'm surprised that you're here, Sakaki Takaya."

The person in question smiled. The smile only made Makoto angrier. Just looking at him reminded Makoto of Shinjiro's death. He had thought that Takaya had perished in Tartarus as it disappeared, but it seems that he was transported here as well.

"It's been a while, Yuki Makoto," Takaya said readying his weapon. "I was also surprised to see you here, but I welcome it."

Takaya's smile twisted. "After all, I now get to kill you personally."

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"Come on Elizabeth," a young girl said as she dragged a young woman in an elevator attendant uniform. The girl was around 14 or 13 and wore something that looked like a Victorian era maid dress. Her platinum blonde hair reached her back. Her eyes were amber and her face showed an expression of annoyance. "You said you would come see him last year, and you said you would come see him the year before that."

"U-umm," the young woman, Elizabeth, nervously fidgeted. She was around Makoto's age. Her face was quite flustered as the younger girl tried to drag her. "I think I'll pass up visiting him today Lavenza."

"You say that but you never visit him even once," Lavenza puffed out her cheeks. "Don't you like him?"

"Y-yes," Elizabeth said. She remembers all the dates that she and Makoto had. She remembered how she slowly fell for him during their time together.

"Well let's go see him," Lavenza said. Elizabeth was still reluctant however. Lavenza sighed. Is this really her sister? She was always so bold but when it comes to Makoto it seems that she loses all that bravado.

Lavenza didn't want to play this card but she had no other choice.

"I believe that he's been living with two beautiful girls for a year," Elizabeth froze at the sentence. Technically he was living with Alice and Izanami. Lavenza knew as she occasionally visits them but Elizabeth didn't know that. "I usually visit them but I don't really have a grasp on their relationship." a lie. Alice plays the role of a cute little sister and Izanami is the tsundere.

The effect was instantaneous. Elizabeth immediately carried Lavenza by the waist and rushed towards the apartment complex. Reaching Makoto's room she readies her foot. Lavenza's eyes widened. "Wait sister!"

"Makoto-sama!"

Too late. Elizabeth kicked down the door. Despite being kicked, it felt more like it was hit with a rocket launcher. Lavenza hoped that no one was at the other side of the door. Or anyone in the apartment for that matter.

"Makoto-sama?" Elizabeth called out, this time with a lot more subdued voice. She let down Lavenza as they walked inside. There wasn't sign that anyone was here.

"Does he really live here, Lavenza?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes," Lavenza said as she made her way to the kitchen. "I had curry here three months ago."

"Wait what?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes wide.

"I had curry here three months ago," Lavenza repeated. "I owe him a lot and someone has to check up on him. I was the one who took up that duty as a certain sister couldn't be bothered and one always tried to find an excuse not to due to her awkwardness."

Elizabeth winced at the obvious jab.

"But this is weird," Lavenza said. Elizabeth follows her to the kitchen and saw some ingredients around. They were rather moldy and it looks like they have been left alone for quite a while. "If Makoto was going to leave, he would've at least finished whatever he was cooking. He wouldn't just let food go to waste. Especially since he was homeless for a time and food was hard to get by."

Elizabeth for her part was quite agitated. She was really worried about Makoto. What if something happened to him? He might have gotten caught up in some other dangerous stuff.

" _Maybe I should've curbed down my embarrassment,"_ she thought to herself.

Lavenza went back to the living room and looked around. None of the stuff there was touched, in fact all of the room hasn't been touched (save for the front doorwhich Elizabeth destroyed). Where could have they gone?

As Lavenza walked she felt like she stepped on something. Looking down she saw that she had stepped on a letter. She picked it up and read the contents.

"Boys and girls with wondrous talents and much distress, I address thee! If you strive to test your [Gifts], then cast aside your friends, your possessions, your world, and come to our **Little Garden** ," Lavenza read aloud. Elizabeth had walked in behind her and read the letter as well.

"Left? Cast aside?" Elizabeth murmured. Lavenza turned to her sister and was surprised at what she saw. Elizabeth was actually tearing up. "He left? He cast everything aside?"

"Ummmm, Sister," Lavenza said carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, uh… Yes! Yes, I am alright Lavenza."

Lavenza wanted to point out that there were tears welling in her eyes but decided not to. "What do you plan on doing now?" Lavenza decided to ask her sister. But knowing her sister she can probably guess. After all Elizabeth is her sister.

"I'm going to Little Garden!" Elizabeth declared. "I will go to Little Garden and I will be with Makoto-san."

She said that with much declaration. She will make it happen. Even if people say that it's impossible or have a zero percent chance of success. She didn't care, zero is as good as a hundred percent to her.

Lavenza nodded. "Mmmhmmm. Do you know where it is and how to get there?"

Okay, Elizabeth hadn't taught about that. "Ummmm… We'll get there when we get there!"

Lavenza sighed. Her sister seriously couldn't be left alone. Lavenza made her decision. "Well then, I'll be coming with you."

She can't just let her sister go off on her own.

"Eh?"

"I'm coming with you so that you don't do anything rash."

"I don't do anything rash," Elizabeth protested.

Lavenza looks at the broken front door and Elizabeth looks away. "Yeah, definitely not rash."

"By the way," Elizabeth said, trying to redirect the subject. "Where did the other two sleep?"

"What?"

"I went around and saw that there was only one bedroom," Elizabeth said. "And there's also one sofa."

"They slept together in the same bed," Lavenza covered her mouth immediately after she said that. She didn't mean to let that piece of information out to her sister. She turned to Elizabeth who now had a blank look on her face but she still has a smile. It was creepy to be honest.

"Eh?" Elizabeth let out a dumbfounded voice. They what now? Slept? Together?

"Uh Elizabeth," Lavenza said nervously. "Ummm, you know it's not like that."

Elizabeth wasn't listening anymore. It seems that has crashed. Lavenza sighed. It seems she's going to have to carry her sister out of here before the authorities arrive. They _did_ break into an apartment by force.

 **[Author's Note]**

 **Hooo boy, I couldn't believe I managed to write something this long.**

 **So this is Chapter 07. Sorry if it's underwhelming and late, I've been busy.**

 **So yeah, something really happened with Makoto during the time between his death and reincarnation. Kind of trying to set up a plot for another fic but I won't write that one right away.**

 **I was quite surprised at the reactions towards Alice and Jin. Makes me kind of curious. Muhahahahaha.**

 **Anyone expected Takaya** _ **and Goro**_ **? No? Okay.**

 **Elizabeth appears! Not in [Little Garden] but she's appeared anyway with Lavenza to boot. Yes they will be featured in this fic but would they join [XXI: Universe]? Who knows?**

 **I still haven't even finished Chapter 01 of Tartarus. I'll try to get it done before April, though I wouldn't hope too much, as my main focus is this fic first. I think I also need a co-writer for that one. In case I get anything wrong in the Nasuverse.**

 **A TvTropes recommendation/page would nice. I-it's not that I-I want it or anything b-baka, but it would be nice.**

 **[Extra Chapter: After Reincarnation: Reincarnated Life Start]**

 _It was a dream._

 _Makoto was standing before a man cloaked in darkness and wore a black mask. Behind him was a group who wore outfits that looked like cosplay._

 _The scene fades and it was replaced by the masked man on the ground. One of the people behind him offered the masked man to rejoin them and fight of someone. Before that happens however, a brown haired boy appears accompanied by [Shadows]._

 _The dream starts to fade._

 **[Extra]**

"Another dream," Makoto said as his eyes slowly opened. A breeze then came.

"Achoo!" Makoto sneezed as he laid down under one of the benches in the park.

That's right Yuuki Makoto was currently sleeping outside like a homeless person. No, he _is_ a homeless person.

"Getting reincarnated isn't so easy," Makoto laments as he hugged himself to warm himself a bit. It was a good thing he had some clothes, his school uniform to be exact, at least. Getting reincarnated naked was common in Anime and Manga but he sure is grateful that he had his clothes.

Makoto shuddered at the thought of being homeless _and_ naked _._

He was reincarnated just a month ago. The world's changed the past hundred years. There were robots now, which kind of worried Makoto since they usually patrolled around and captured any suspicious person they see. He also had no money. And he also had no documents, like birth certificate either.

He also had trouble finding food. Good thing he can command cats using some of his [Personas], mainly Neko Shogun. He had them steal food for him. He could steal them himself but he didn't like it. Of course he shared the food with them. They were the ones that did the hard work.

So yeah, being reincarnated is really really hard.

 _'I miss my bed,'_ Makoto thought sadly. _'And my soft pillow. The one that wasn't stuffed in the freezer.'_

 _'Stop whining,'_ said a voice in his head, who goes by Cana. _'That isn't going to get us anywhere.'_

 _'Easy for you to say. You're not the one freezing here.'_

 _'I'm also feeling the cold. We share the same body.'_

 _'I'm the current dominant personality, I feel it more.'_

He seriously didn't like the idea of someone in his head and sharing the same body with someone else. He even freaked out when he found out that Ryoji was once within him all along as Pharos.

This time it was worse, as Cana is a woman.

It made him kind of self-conscious. He had trouble using the restroom because he knows she's there, seeing everything that he sees.

 _'Well,'_ Cana said. _'It isn't much but would you like to hear a story?'_

 _'A story?'_ Makoto questioned. Was Cana going to tell him about her past life when she was alive?

 _'It's about a place called Little Garden-"_

Before she could continue, something slammed on the bench causing Makoto to get startled. Did the robots found him?

"Found you," he looked and saw a young girl with long platinum blonde hair staring at him. She kind of reminded him of Alice, one of his most trusted and powerful Persona and also his surrogate little sister. The only difference were their eyes, she had amber eyes instead of crimson. She also wore a velvet blue dress.

Yeah, she's probably from the [Velvet Room]. Elizabeth's little sister perhaps?

What was she doing here though? Was she going to give him a place to stay?

"Here," she handed him an envelope. It seems that it contained money. She also handed him a black briefcase. "I'm returning those to you."

"Wait," Makoto called out as she was about to leave. The girl turned towards him as he got out from under the bench and dusted the dirt of his uniform. "What do you mean by that? That you're returning this to me?"

It was weird. This was the first time he's seen the girl but it seems that she already knew Makoto. It was impossible for Makoto to leave something to her as they never met.

"It seems that you don't remember," the girl sighed. "It was to be expected."

"What do you mean?"

"I've done my job of returning that to you," the girl said simply. "As for the rest of the mysteries, you need to solve that on your own."

"Hey—" before he could finish, the girl had faded away.

 _'That was weird,'_ Cana commented. _'Aren't you going to open that?'_

"Oh, yeah," he began to open the letter. Inside was 1,000,000 yen. Makoto felt underwhelmed. He expected a bigger amount than this, especially since it came from Elizabeth's sister, same Elizabeth who dumps a million worth of coins on the fountains in the mall. He then opened the briefcase, it contained his documents. Makoto sighed.

 _'It's still too early to sigh,'_ Cana remarked. _'There's more to it.'_

Indeed there was. There was credit card and a map as well. And there was a letter as well. Makoto took the letter and read it. Shocked was an understatement to what he read.

After all the handwriting was _his._

 _'Dear Yuuki Makoto,_

 _I'm pretty sure you're not doing okay, so I decided to take some steps in making sure that you'll get some place to stay and finances. I had Theodore and Lavenza take care of a bank account I created. I also asked them to look for a place that you could stay in._

 _If you're wondering how this letter was made, then that's for you to remember. After all, it would be a too long of a story. And it wouldn't be fun to just tell you the whole thing._

 _Take care._

 _Yours truly, Yuuki Makoto_

 _'Okay, that's really weird and creepy,'_ Cana remarked and Makoto agreed. _'What do you think?'_

 _'The handwriting is mine so it's either I was really the one who wrote this or Elizabeth copied my handwriting to play a prank on me.'_ Makoto replied. _'Elizabeth's never seen my handwriting so it's definitely the former.'_

 _'That's impossible though,'_ Cana voiced her thoughts. _'After all, I don't see any memory of you doing that.'_

' _Wait a minute,'_ Makoto felt like his privacy got invaded. _'What do you mean by that?'_

What did she mean by she didn't see any memory of him doing that?

' _I can look at your memories, o Silver-Eyed Demon King who scorches the world with his Mystic Right Eye.'_ He couldn't see her face but he was definitely sure from the tone of her voice that she was desperately holding back a laugh.

Minato's normally straight face almost cracked at the mention of that forbidden name. He _does not_ want to remember his lame chuuni self.

Cana giggled. _'Well, why don't we go check that place to stay that the mystery you told us in the letter?'_

' _Yeah,'_ Makoto unfolded the map. The directions and name of the place were written in it. Makoto smiled in nostalgia. After all it was a place that was quite close to his heart. "Seriously?"

It seems that they turned Iwatodai Dorm into an apartment.


	9. Demon Lord Game: Start!

**Chapter 08: [Demon Lord] Game: Start!**

 **[Chapter 08 —** **Side: Salamandra]**

—Boundary wall, stage area. [Rise of the Fire Dragon Festival] Operation Headquarters.

Both the [No Name] and [XXI: Universe were given a special VIP seat by Shiroyasha. Alice sat beside Jin and teased him much to the young man's dismay. Sandora and Lily also watched the two with jealous eyes. Alice noticed this and sent them a smug smile.

"Say, Alice-san," Sala said with a stern voice. Well, the sternest that she could muster. "Don't you think you're making Jin-kun too uncomfortable?"

"Yes, Sandora-sama is correct!" Lily followed up vigorously.

"Is Alice really?" Alice said with a teasing tone. "That isn't true, right Jin-kun?"

"U-umm," Jin stammers. He didn't really want Sandora to get the wrong idea. "I-I don't really mind."

"See Sandora-chan? It's okay with Jin-kun." The reply caused Sandora to puff her cheeks a bit.

"Don't just go addressing her casually," the man beside Sandora, Mandora, leveled a glare at Alice.

Alice grins. Oh man, this might get ugly if left unchecked. Mandora' hot temper and Alice's apparent love for provoking people are not something you want to be in the same room. Jin tried to look for some people that would dissuade the two, but to his dismay, there are none.

Arsene was currently scouting for some cute girls in the audience. Laius was beside him massaging his temples at Arsene's antics.

"Oh my," Arsene said looking through using his binoculars. "So many cute girls down there. Wait for me girls."

"..." Laius was practically giving it his all not to make a jab at the phantom thief.

Izayoi, on the other hand, was trying to confirm whether it was really okay to allow Kuro Usagi to be the [Judge Master] for the game.

"Of course," Shiroyasha said. "Having her, an [Aristocrat of Little Garden], as the [Judge] would increase the [Guarantee] of the game. A record that it did not violate any legitimacy. If it could leave a record, it guarantees that the Communities participating are dueling with dignity."

"Oh? So that means, that Sandora….-sama's festival has a [Guaranteed] [Game] right?" Jin sighed in relief as Mandora turned his glare to Izayoi as he was about to address Sandora rather casually.

Asuka wasn't paying any attention to anyone and instead had a worried look on her face.

"Eh? What's the matter Ojou-sama?" Izayoi asked. "You seem kind of restless."

"The enemies are of a higher level than us right?" Asuka said. "It would be really strange not to worry."

Shiroyasha nodded. "Both [Will-O'-Wisp] and [Rattenfänger] are 6-digit Communities. They usually wouldn't bother with [Gift Games] in the lower gates but it seems that they want the [Gift] from the [Floor Master]."

"Okay…" Izayoi said. "What's Kasukabe's chance of winning then?"

"Zero," Shiroyasha said bluntly. Hearing that, Asuka made a bitter expression. There was the fact that she was worried that Yo might get attacked on the stage.

"Relax, Ojou-sama," Izayoi said. "If a [Demon Lord] were to attack, I'm pretty sure they won't target Kasukabe."

"You may be right…"

"Don't worry," Shiroyasha assured her. "The rules will prohibit lives from being taken. I also told Kasukabe that she should surrender if she can't win. There's nothing to worry about. Then there's also the participation rules."

' _I hope so,'_ Asuka thought.

The sun had risen. Kuro Usagi has taken the stage to announce the start of the game. Taking a deep breath, she smiled to the crowd sweetly.

"Sorry for the wait!" Kuro Usagi said with vigor. "The [Duel of the Creators] match begins now! The referee for today will be [Thousand Eyes] exclusive, everyone's favorite Kuro Usagi, to serve everyone today!"

She finished the last one with a singsong voice and sent a smile to everyone. The whole crowd erupted to cheers.

"WOOOOOOOHHHHHH! The [Moon Rabbit] really came!"

"Kuro Usagiiiiiiii! I came here just to see you WOOOOOOOO!"

"Today I will finally get a peep at what's under your skirt AHHHHHHHH!"

The crowd's really _really_ filled with enthusiasm. Kuro Usagi smiled at them but it was clear that she was getting really afraid, as her rabbit ears were on their end. She was feeling some incredible dangers.

"...Kuro Usagi feels warmly welcomed."

Asuka looked at those perverts with dispassionate eyes. Alice was doing everything within her self-restraint not to burst out laughing.

"Oh," Arsene whistled. "That's one perverted crowd."

"Do you really have the right to say that?" Laius said. Though he wasn't in the position to criticize. After all, he also once lusted for Kuro Usagi's body.

As they watched, Izayoi suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, Shiroyasha," Izayoi said looking at the white haired loli beside him. "Why did you make Kuro Usagi's skirt like that? You think you can see yet you can't actually see. This subtlety is outdated already!"

"Are you two seriously going to discuss that topic?" Asuka said indignantly.

Ignoring Asuka, Shiroyasha took the binoculars off and looked at Izayoi with a disappointed expression. "I see. It seems that you still don't understand true art."

"Eh? What are you talking about? Are you saying that there's a reason for that?"

"Think about it for a second kid," Shiroyasha said in an almost sage like voice. "Once you have seen what's under, then what is the point anymore? We are all driven by our curiosity of the unknown. We always use our imagination! That is when true art manifests! It manifests within the universe of our hearts!"

"The universe of hearts!?" Izayoi had a look of revelation on his face.

""U-ummmm,"" Lily and Sala were also shocked. Jin sighed, Arsene also had a look of revelation, and Laius' eyes were closed. Contrast to Alice, who was practically at her limit, trying her best not to laugh.

"Don't look, Sandora," Mandora said, eyes leveled at a clode gaze on Shiroyasha who didn't care. "You'll catch their stupidity."

Asuka sighed as Shiroyasha and Izayoi continued with their antics. Those two will probably never change so she should just bear with it. Even if she doesn't want to.

"Oh hey," Alice said. "The match is about to start."

As if on cue, Kuro Usagi cheerfully announced. "Then let's welcome the participants on stage! From [No Name], we have Kasukabe Yo, and from the Community [Will-o'-Wisp], we have Ayesha Ignis Fatuus!"

Yo walked towards the stage—

"Yafufufufufu."

"Whoa!"

Only to fall on to her butt when a really fast fireball swept past her.

Alice whistled. "Well, that wasn't a good impression to the crowd."

The one that had flown past Yo was a big, human-sized, Jack-o'-Lantern. On its head was a girl in black and white gothic lolita dress. Her blue hair tied in twintails. The girl must be Ayesha. She said something that couldn't be heard from where Alice was but it was probably mean-spirited as some of the crowd also laughed.

' _Wow, what a mean girl,'_ Alice thought.

As Jin watched he felt a cold sensation near his chest. He checked himself and found the [Gift Card] that Alice gave him. It was cold to touch before but it felt a lot more cold now. Why was it cold though? Alice noticed and smiles.

"Alice think it's reacting to the Jack-o'-Lantern," Alice said.

"Eh?"

"Don't worry about it. You'll learn why soon. Not super soon but soon though."

Asuka, on the other hand, watched in delight. "Look, look," She exclaimed excitedly while she slapped Izayoi's shoulder. "It's Jack! The real Jack-o'-Lantern!"

"Alright, alright we get it," Izayoi had a wry smile. "Now calm down a bit Ojou-sama."

Alice cocked her head a bit towards Asuka. "Asuka-chan, have you never seen a Jack-o'-Lantern before?"

"Yeah, she's from a different time period," Izayoi answered for Asuka who was still distracted by Jack. Alice pouted a bit.

"She's like a kid."

"I think it's because she's a sheltered princess."

"A sheltered young lady archetype? That's pretty cliche."

"You got that right."

Kuro Usagi told Ayesha to get back to her original position. Yo also got up and went to her position. That seems like it didn't sit well with Ayesha, being ignored and all, so she stuck her tongue out to Yo.

"Wow what a brat," Alice commented.

' _Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.'_

' _You have no right to say that.'_

Arsene and Laius almost said out loud but they managed to catch themselves. Even if it wasn't obvious, Alice was the strongest one in their trio.

"—alright! Before the start of the finals, Shiroyasha-sama will now announce the stage of the battle. Everyone please be quiet!"

The whole crowd immediately stops speaking. It seems that Shiroyasha's quite respected despite being a pervert of the highest degree. Shiroyasha nodded.

"Thank you all for the cooperation," She started with a rather professional tone. "As my body looks like that of a child, it is very inconvenient to speak loudly. Now then, everyone please look at their invitation letters and see if there are numbers written in it."

The audience started to look at their at their invitation, some in anticipation, some with nervous looks. Shiroyasha looked at them before continuing. Alice also looked at their invitation. They didn't have the number. Too bad.

"Okay, now is there anyone who has the exact same number as my Community, [Thousand Eyes] number 3345 in their letter? If you are here, please raise up the letter and state your Community's name."

A young Dryad stood up and raised up his invitation letter. "O-over here! Community [Underwood] has the letter with the number 3345!"

A series of cheers erupted within the crowd. Shiroyasha disappeared like mist and appeared before the boy. "Congratulations, Dryad friend from [Underwood], we'll send a souvenir to you shortly. Now, please let me take a look at your flag."

The dryad young man gave her a wooden bracelet which was carved with symbols. After observing it, Shiroyasha returned the bracelet back with a smile before reappearing at the balcony once more.

"The stage for the finals has been confirmed, then, please follow my movements."

Shiroyasha stretched out her arms and everyone followed her gesture. Everyone clapped their hands together and with in an instant the whole world changed.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"Say why aren't they starting yet?" Alice asked. Yo and Ayesha had been transported into some root system of a tree. However the two still hadn't begun the game yet.

"That's because the [Game] hasn't officially started yet," Jin explains. "Both the winning conditions and losing conditions hasn't been announced yet so the game still isn't official."

"Ohh," Alice said. Soon enough the conditions of the [Game] had been announced.

 **[GIFT GAME NAME: Underwood Maze]**

 **Clearing Condition(s):**

* **One: Participant successfully leaves the maze and come into the field**

* **Two: Participant successfully breaks the opponent's gift**

* **Three: When the opponent can't fulfill the winning conditions(Forfeit).**

 **Defeat Condition(s):**

* **One: Opponent fulfills one of the winning conditions.**

* **Two: Participant is unable to fulfill one of the winning conditions**

"It's a pretty easy game huh," Alice said. "All you gotta do is to get out of the maze."

"Well, getting out isn't as simple as you think," Sandora said. "The maze is a bit like a web and there are many dead ends."

"Ehhhhhhh?" Alice made a half eyed look at the young girl. "Can't you just destroy those walls. There wasn't a restriction in blowing up the maze to get out of it."

"Alice-san, that maze is the root system of [Underwood]'s [Great Tree]," Jin explained. "Do you know the water tree that Izayoi-san won?"

"Shi-chan is still mad at losing and would occasionally make some comments on it, so yeah, it kind of got integrated into Alice's head."

"Shi-chan?" Izayoi raised an eyebrow. He did not recognize that name. The one he defeated for was a giant water god in the form of a snake. That big snake obviously didn't deserve a rather cute nickname like 'Shi-chan' so perhaps there might be a misunderstanding that he didn't know about.

"The water god you defeated, she's a member of our Community."

And his thoughts were completely proven wrong and some additional info got added too.

"Wait that snake was a girl?"

"A very beautiful girl at that, Alice has to admit." it was clear in her voice that she meant it and that was saying something since Alice liked to mess around with people.

"Ho," Izayoi smirked a bit. "I kind of want to meet her now."

"And she probably doesn't share that notion."

"Oof."

"Well anyway," Jin internjected. "That water tree is a sapling of the [Great Tree]."

"So the [Great Tree] basically supports the whole Community and that destroying it would basically mean the end of [Underwood]?"

"That's the gist of it."

The [Game] continued. It seems that Yo had figured out a way to get out of the maze. But still, she should've at least try to keep that info to herself. Now the duo are chasing after her and trying to prevent her from escaping the maze.

"Yep she's going to lose, not even a miracle will save her," Alice said bluntly. Asuka glared at her and seems to want to say something. Alice, however, noticed that and continued before Asuka could open her mouth. "She has no way of escaping the maze before them, as she's slowed down by Jack while Ayesha takes the lead. There's no way she can beat both of them since it's two-on-one. She can't break the [Gift] as Jack is a lot stronger than he looks. He could even be on par with a [Demon Lord]."

Alice turns towards Shiroyasha and asks. "Shiroyasha, what's the source of Yo-chan's gift?"

"Her wooden necklace," Shiroyasha said. "That wooden necklace she wears is her [Gift]."

"Wooden necklace… that's another disadvantage for Yo-chan. Since Jack's powers are obviously fire, he can probably easily destroy that [Gift]. So unless Yo-chan wants to lose that [Gift], she should probably just give up on the [Game] and accept her loss."

"Nice observation," Shiroyasha complimented the young girl.

"It's just common sense," Alice said.

Sure enough the [Game] concluded with Yo forfeiting the match. Laius looked like he wanted to act smug but managed to reign it in. Laius smiled a bit. Asuka's face fell as the winner was decided. The other people in the stands decided to comfort Asuka. Which was kind of weird since it should be Yo that needs to be comforted.

"Well you can't win them all," Alice said. It seems that after the [Game], Yo and Jack managed to become friends. It seems like Ayesha actually wanted to be friends with her as well but was too tsundere to say it.

What's with all this tsunderes? There's already three them. Four if you count Laius.

Alice was cut off from her thoughts, however, when black pieces of papers started falling down the stadium. It was not a good sign and it seems things are about to get serious. Alice grabs one of the papers and confirms that it was a [Geass Roll].

 **[GIFT GAME: The Pied Piper of Hamelin]**

 **List of Participant(s):**

* **Participants/hosts/communities currently in the Outer Gate of 3999999 and 4000000.**

 **Competitors side: Host of the game:**

* **Spirit of the sun and white night, Star class—Shiroyasha.**

 **Winner conditions for the host master:**

* **All participants to be massacred or pushed to submission**

 **Winner conditions for participants:**

* **One: Kill the host master.**

* **Two: Shatter the false legend, making the true legend known.**

 **Oath:** _ **Respecting the described content, the community that host this Gift game based on their glory and flag.**_

 _ **[Grimm Gimoire Hamelin] Seal**_

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"Wow it explicitly says 'Kill' and 'Massacred'," Alice said. She didn't know that it could be used as a condition for a [Gift Game] so it kind of caught her by surprise. Though she did realize that this is a world where most things are decided by [Games].

However, she wasn't afraid of Death. As a member of the Death Arcana, she didn't fear it. She lived with death. She is death. So the threat of death is meaningless to her. To be honest she was excited. The [Demon Lord] has arrived. She was going to have fun.

That said, the same couldn't be said for everyone. They were panicking. Running into each other, screaming and shouting. Everyone was trying to get away from the arena.

Then there was Shiroyasha who suddenly got enveloped by dark wind sending them all flying away from her. Alice immediately goes to catch Jin and carries him on a princess carry. The image was amusing as the girl was the one carrying the boy like a princess but most couldn't laugh it off due to the situation.

"Are you alright Jin-kun?" Alice asked. The playfulness in her voice was gone and was replaced by deeper tone of voice that indicated seriousness that wasn't fit for her. As the young leader nodded Alice sets him down.

It was quite a good call as Alice suddenly got hit by a beak of some gigantic black bird right on the chest. Alice managed to push Jin away further before she got hit. The giant bird smashes to the ground with Alice. Dust and rocks flew everywhere.

"ALICE-SAN!" Jin screamed. Izayoi, Manodra, and Laius went-wide eyed at the sudden attack. Kuro Usagi, Sandora, Asuka, and Lily covered their mouth in horror at the sight.

Arsene was not worried however as he knows that Alice will not be taken down by such a pathetic attack. And sure enough he was right, as the black bird bursts into a shower of black goo. Alice emerges from the rubble and dusting of the rock and dirt of her clothes.

"That surprised me," Alice sighed, now using first person to refer to herself to indicate her seriousness. She turns to look at Jin and sighed in relief. "I was worried that you might have gotten hurt, but you're safe Jin-kun, Well maybe not all safe considering the situation, but at least you weren't caught in that."

They didn't get the chance to be relieved as dozens of black shadowy figures suddenly rises from the ground. They were in different shapes and sizes. Most were human like, others resembled beasts, and some a twisted combination of both. [Shadows].

"What are these things?" Asuka said, sweat dripping down her face. It was the first time she's seen anything like this. Everything about them screamed that it was not something that was meant to be on this world. Not even the vampirized Galdo could match this horror.

"It doesn't matter," Alice said, she leveled a glare on the [Shadows]. She swept her hand and pillars of darkness erupted below the [Shadows]. The [Shadows] were destroyed within an instant. "What matters is that they are not alive, so it's okay to destroy them completely. In fact that's the preferable option."

Everyone felt it. The dreadful malice. The one that caused Asuka to faint and one that Leticia feared. The cheerful Alice was completely gone. There was now only a killing machine. The [Shadows] emerged once again and they got ready to fight.

"Don't bother with them," Alice said. Her voice had turned deep. "They aren't alive and will just continue to spawn." She turns to Arsene. "Arsene, go find whoever's summoning them. I'll take care of these things myself."

"Okay, roger that Alice!" Arsene gives her a thumbs up before disappearing.

"You guys get out of here and do something else to help the people," Alice said. Jin didn't want to leave Alice behind but as he was about to protest, Alice raised her hand and slams her palm to the ground. "Summoning: Jabberwock!"

The ground shook and out came a monstrous dragon. Its head was spiked, spiked to the point that it looked like its tail.. It had no eyes, just a gaping mouth with seven rows of large teeth. Each of its bat-like wings was larger as its body. The rather thin body had multiple claws and it had a mouth at its stomach. It was an abomination just like the [Shadows], one not meant to exist in this world.

The Jabberwock let out a roar. The [Shadows] immediately began violently shaking and exploded into a shower of black sludge. The sludge pours from the sky like rain. The Jabberwock spreads out its wings preventing any of the sludge from dripping into them.

Everyone looked at the scene with shocked faces, especially Jin. His mind couldn't quite wrap itself to what he just witnessed. Alice turns around with a smile on her face but it wasn't a cute smile. No, it was an extremely horrifying smile, certain to give anyone nightmares. "Didn't I say that I can handle these myself? Why are you all still here?"

Everyone took that as a cue to get out, though it was most likely to get away from her. Jin hesitated for a bit before getting out of the arena, but he still gave Alice one last look. It was an unreadable look, like he wasn't really sure what to think. Alice sighed. "Well, seems like I scared him too much. But it's probably for the best."

Her voice had a tinge of regret yet also had acceptance in it. She looked at the [Shadows] crawling up from the ground and smiled. "Well small fries, please prepare yourselves. You're the one who is gonna be massacred today."

And thus the most horrifying monster of [Wonderland] let loose.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

The group had ran away from the arena to help the others, though it was more like they decided to run away from Alice. Izayoi had decided to directly attack the [Demon Lord] while Laius was trying to calm the people down with Mandora, Sandora, and Jin's help. There was also that gust of wind that separated them from Asuka with Yo and Leticia setting out to find her. Jin hoped that they were okay.

"Kid watch out!" Jin barely had the time to react as one of the [Shadows] lunged at him. Fortunately Laius had intercepted the [Shadows] and crushed it with a single blow. Jin was quite surprised, Laius had grown stronger the last time they saw him. Back then he was only relying on Algol for power. "Don't go spacing out. You need to be alert with these things."

"What are these things though," Mandora growled as he sliced another one. "They just keep coming back whenever they're killed."

"Seems like they're summoned creatures," Jin said. "As Alice-san told Arsene earlier, the one who's summoning them is the one that should be taken out, not the creatures themselves."

"Well it's not like we can ignore these things," Laius said through gritted teeth.

True. Despite the fact that they were small fries as Alice called them, they were still dangerous as they couldn't be killed permanently. They were also rather numerous and they don't seem like they get tired. And there were many more of them popping out. At this rate, even with reinforcements arriving, they would be largely outnumbered.

"Hey kid," Laius called out to Jin. "Get out of here now. You'll only get in the way if you stay here and you'll also find yourself in danger."

"Eh, but-"

"He's right Jin-kun," Sandora said. "The situation is getting worse by the minute. You need to get out of here."

"There's also that you're dead weight right now," Laius added getting a glare from Sandora in return.

Jin wanted to argue but he found that he couldn't. Laius made a valid point. Unlike them, he didn't really have anything that would allow him to help. He was just some useless kid. He gritted his teeth and sprints out of the battlefield.

"Oi, you guys over there!" Mandora shouted at some of the reinforcements. "Go and make sure that that kid doesn't get killed."

"Yes, sir!" The troop said as they followed the you Leader. Laius grinned at Mandora.

"Seems like you do have some soft side."

"Shut up," Mandora said. "You also wanted to follow that kid right?"

"Heh," was all that was Laius' response to the question. He did not deny it though.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"Alright," Arsene said as he flew around, occasionally shooting [Shadows] as he searched for the man responsible for the trouble. "Where are you, you asshole."

As soon as he said that, two dark energy bullets shot out.. Fortunately, Arsene managed to react in time to dodge the bullets. Arsene summons his gun and fires at the direction where the bullets came from. A barrier appeared and the bullets were immediately bounced back to him, making Arsene dodge again.

"Tetrakarn?" Arsene narrowed his eyes. That was one of the most common spells that Ren used when he was exploring Palaces. The barrier that reflected any physical attacks.

"Yes that's right," a voice behind him said. Arsene turned around to see a gun pointed at his head, though he was more shocked at the face that he saw. The man grinned as he saw Arsene's expression.

"Akechi Goro!?" Arsene yelled in shock. He was alive. Not only that, he was at [Little Garden]?

"Primal Force," Akechi said as he pulled the trigger. A blast of energy hits Arsene and sends him flying into one of the buildings. A shadow, it seems that it was a Shadow Phoenix, flew by and caught Akechi by the shoulders. It actually gave out an illusion that he had wings. "Well, I didn't expect you to be here Ren. Or maybe you're actually Arsene."

Arsene gets up from the rubble, dusting off some dirt in his clothes. He looks up and glares at Akechi who gives him a smirk in return. Arsene pulls out another gun and fires with both, simultaneously. Akechi proceeded to dodge them all.

"Hah! Pathetic!" Akechi taunted. Arsene smirks as response, wiping the smirk off of Akechi's face. Akechi looks around and sees that the shots had now surrounded him. The shots proceeded to strike Akechi from all directions. He managed to dodge some but most of them hit him. It also managed to kill the Shadow Phoenix that was carrying him sending him spiralling down and hitting one of the buildings.

"Who's pathetic now?" Arsene throws back the taunt. He was still surprised though, at the fact that Akechi was still alive as well as stronger than before. "I gotta say, I didn't expect you to be here much less be a member of [Demon Lord] Community."

"Yeah," Akechi said as he stood up. He snaps his fingers and his shadow expanded. From the expanded shadow, another Shadow Phoenix flys out. "I also didn't expect you to be here. Is Ren here as well? I wouldn't be so surprised if he was."

"Sorry to say, he's not here."

"Then how are you here?"

"I was summoned by someone else. Yuuki Makoto."

The moment Arsene said that, Akechi's eyes widened but returned to normal almost immediately. "Yuuki Makoto?" He said as he covered his mouth with his hand. "Hmmmmmm…..just perhaps."

"Eh?" Arsene raised an eyebrow. It seems that Akechi was talking to himself. Arsene proceeded to aim his gun at Akechi while he was still distracted. After all, this is a battlefield. Anyone not focused or distracted would make an easy target. Your enemies will not let you catch a break. "One-shot-Kill."

"Tetrakarn."

As expected, the spiralling bullet was immediately heading towards him but—

"Tetrakarn!" Arsene yelled out the spell.

The bullet vanishes as it hits the barrier. Arsene was not gonna waste anymore time with this guy and immediately fired a Riot Gun followed by another One-Shot-Kill.

"It's useless!" Akechi declared arrogantly. "Tetrakarn!" The barrier was set up almost immediately and as the barrage of bullets was closing in the barrier, Arsene smirked.

"Tetra break!"

"What!?" the barrier breaks as the bullets approaches their target. Akechi raises his arms as the bullets bombard him leaving a cloud of smoke and dust from where he stood. Arsene's smirk was something that would've made his original user proud.

The dust clears revealing a rather pissed off looking Akechi. Of course it's not gonna be that easy. Akechi is a rather powerful Persona user, capable fighting all of the Phantom Thieves at once by himself. There was also that ability to make a [Shadows] go berserk.

"You're really asking for it," Akechi said in a dangerously low voice. He raised his arms up to the sky and [Shadows] started gathering around him. Arsene quickly fires more shots but the [Shadows] defended their master. "Behold my power Arsene!"

Just before the battle could continue, Akechi was immediately interrupted by a flash of lighting and the sound of thunder. Akechi cancelled out whatever move he was going to use and looked towards the source of the interruption.

Kuro Usagi stood tall as she lifted the shining Varja and announced. "To all Participants and Hosts, the [Trial Jurisdiction] has been approved! The [Gift Game], [The Pied Piper of Hamelin], will be suspended, while discussions towards a resolution for this matter will be held. Players and Hosts, please cease hostilities!"

"Ara?" Akechi sighed. He looked towards Arsene with a face filled with mock pity. "How lucky for you, Arsene. I would've destroyed you with that attack if the [Moon Rabbit] didn't interrupt us," the former detective snapped his fingers and the shadows below him started to bubble like a witch's cauldron. The bubbling darkness started to swallow Akechi. "Oh well, you'll just have to wait a little bit longer. I suggest you enjoy it."

The ground finally swallowed Akechi whole while Arsene narrowed his eyes. "Pretty overconfident for a guy like him."

" _But what if he has gotten stronger?"_ A certain part of Arsene was worried. Every Wild Card's potential isn't something to be laughed at. Coincidentally, Goro is one of the Wild Cards. " _I need to relay this to Alice."_

 **[Garden's Universe]**

By the time Kuro Usagi had said that, Alice had already slaughtered all of the [Shadows] within the area. The Jabberwock had at least three [Shadows] in its mouth before biting and destroying them completely. Alice held the head of a [Shadow] that took Cu Chulainn's form. She proceeds to crush it with her bare hands as if it were made of glass.

"Seems like we're going to have to stop for now," Alice commented as she recalled back the Jabberwock to [Wonderland]. "What a shame."

"Saying 'what a shame' after a slaughter?" A young man's voice echoed from behind he. Alice turned to see Highness accompanied by a young girl and hooded woman. "My aren't you brutal."

"Oh hello, Highness," Alice does a mock bow to the white haired boy. "Did you come to see me? Or did you come to ignore Kuro Usagi's statement and try to fight me?"

Highness made notice that she was still using first person. He needed to be careful with her. Any scuffle with her will end badly. Sure, he's certain that he can win against her but it's not going to be an easy victory. Perhaps he'll lose an arm or two in the scuffle. Rin and Aura could help but while Highness might come out with a few bruises and scratches, those two might end up dead.

"No," Highness shook his head. "I'm here to give you an offer."

"Offer?"

The white haired boy held out his hand as if asking Alice to take it. "Would you like to leave your current Community and join us?"

Alice blinked once, then twice. When she finally managed to process the outlandish offer to her.

"Pffffft….fuhahahahahahahaha!" she tried to hold the laughter back but failed to do so. She broke down in a giggling fit while clutching her stomach as if to try to lessen it but it didn't yield any satisfying results. Rin looked like she wanted to smack Alice's face but Highness raised a hand to stop her. Alice wipes a tear off her eye as she evens out her breathing. "Fuhahahahahaha! A-are you serious?!"

"Very much so," Highness smirked. "You're rather powerful as well as very similar to a [Demon Lord]. Why not embrace that similarity and become one?"

"No," Alice said. "I'm fine where I am right now. Plus Onii-chan isn't going to like that."

"I see," Highness sighed as he looked down. He raised his head again, this time his face had a dark smile on it. "Then if he were to go down, it would be okay."

"You're seriously underestimating Onii-chan," Alice giggled. "He's not just someone you can beat easily."

"Perhaps but that doesn't necessarily mean he's unbeatable," the boy replied.

Alice gives him a flat look. All traces of emotions couldn't be found in the look she was giving them. "Do you seriously think that? That's pretty arrogant you know? You can't beat Onii-chan, I'm very much sure of it."

Alice turned and begins around to leave. "I will accept the invitation if you beat Onii-chan. It's impossible so I just accepted the conditions to spite you."

Highness scoffed. "Don't you know the saying of pride before the fall?"

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"That was pretty reckless you know," Arsene appeared from the shadows. He had a pretty serious look on his face which kind of look out of character for him. "You're seriously underestimating them."

Alice turned towards the thief. "I'm not underestimating them," she said, "I already know that it's impossible for them to beat Onii-chan. Do you not believe in Onii-chan?"

Arsene sighed. "It's not like that and what you just said is textbook example of underestimating them."

"Yeah whatever," Alice said. "What are you here for anyway?"

"Well you see," Arsene began. "Do you remember Akechi Goro?"

"I was barely used by Amamiya since I made sure that he won't be summoning me regularly but I believe that this Akechi Goro was that Wild Card with daddy issues who ended up getting manipulated by said daddy."

"That's pretty much him."

"What about him then?"

"He's here," Arsene said. Alice blinks and turns towards Arsene. "He's the one who summoned the [Shadows]."

"I see," Alice said closing her eyes. "Well then, we can just eliminate him and be done with the [Shadows]."

"He's gotten stronger though."

"That's just you slacking off," Alice said. "You could've beaten that guy in a matter of minutes and now you've lost the chance to do it. Well then let's get going to where Jin and the others are."

"Heh, you're quite fond of the kid. To bad you kind of scared him."

Alice just let out a huff in response.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

Jin sighed as he stood in one of the balconies of [Salamandra]'s castle. They had managed to talk it out and gained a week of no aggression with the [Pied Piper of Hamelin]. He was still anxious though. Their opponent is the Black Death to hammer it down even more, the Black Death wants him as a toy. Jin sighed once again.

His eyes widened when he felt a chill ran up his spine and a pair of slender hands wrapped itself around his neck. He was being hugged from behind. Hugs were supposed to bring a warm feeling to the receiver but Jin felt like his head was on a guillotine. Jin slowly moves his head and sees a mop of blonde hair.

"Hello, Jin-kun," Alice said as she buried her face on his back, preventing him from seeing her expression. It made the experience an even more terrifying one.

"A-Alice-san…" Jin gulped.

"Turn your head back to the front," Jin immediately complies to the young girl's request and faces forward. He starts to even out his breathing before Alice starts to speak again. "Hey, Jin-kun. Alice has a question that she want to ask of you."

"W-well, what is it?" the young Community leader stammers the response.

"It's just a simple question, Jin-kun," Alice said softly. Her voice was quite low for the usual Alice. From the limited time that Jin had spent with Alice, he had at least managed to grasp that the girl was a very cheerful girl and would often talk at an upbeat tone. Hearing her voice soft and quite brought made him break in cold sweat. "Are you afraid of Alice?"

"Eh?"

"Are you afraid of Alice, please answer it truthfully. No sugar coating so that you could spare my feelings."

"I…" what did Jin think of the other girl. Sure he was quite fond of her and considered her a friend despite the fact that they only met recently. However, the showcase of power that she displayed earlier made Jin realize that he didn't actually know the girl. He was just placing her in a pedestal of a kind and cheerful girl. Should he lie and spare her feelings or should he tell her the brutal truth.

The young boy made up his mind.

"Yes," Jin said. "I am very afraid of you. I feel so scared right now to be honest. So scared that I feel like my legs, no my entire body is being encased in ice just by being hugged by you. I want to end this conversation as fast as I can and I want to get away from you."

"..."

A second of silence followed the young boy's confession. The second turned into a minute and the minutes became five minutes. Jin could feel his fear go up but he didn't move (or maybe he couldn't move) as he continued to get a hug from the monster that has a young girl's skin.

"Kuku," A giggle escaped from Alice's mouth. "Kuhahahahahaha!" The giggle turned into a full blown laughter. Alice lets go of Jin, who turns around in confusion due to the sudden turn of events. Alice was wiping tears from her eyes as she clutched her sides.

"Oh Jin-kun! that was a good answer but I didn't expect you to be so straightforward about it!" Alice continued to laugh.

"Eh?" Jin looked at the girl dumbfounded.

"I wanted that honest answer Jin-kun," Alice said. Jin noted that she was currently in first person right now. "I didn't expect you to answer that bluntly. It kind of hurt my feelings to be honest! I almost cried!"

"E-eh," Jin stammers. "I-I'm so sorry!"

"No no, don't worry about it," Alice had finished laughing and looked at him with a sincere smile on her face. Jin caught his breath. She was stunning and beautiful as she smiled. "If you had lied to me, I wasn't sure on what I would've done to you. I didn't want any lies, I wanted the whole truth on how you felt."

"I-I see."

"Thank you for answering honestly, Jin-kun," Alice said. "Now Alice has another question for you."

"What is it?"

"Despite the fact that you are afraid of me, do you still consider me as a friend?" Alice asked.

That was a tough question. Jin was very afraid of Alice. She was scary and powerful and she was like a [Demon Lord]. She could very well kill him in a blink of an eye. She might even give Izayoi a hard fight.

But still if he had to answer.

"Yes, I still want to be your friend Alice-san" Jin answered without hesitation.

He still wanted to be her friend. He enjoyed the time that they had spent together. Despite the fact that she tended to tease and embarrass him, he still enjoyed her company. The date with her was actually one of the more memorable moments that he has experienced. He's not gonna say that though. She's going to tease him relentlessly for it.

"I see," Alice puts her hands behind her back and smiles at Jin. Jin wasn't so sure on what's going on in her mind as she looked at him with a funny look on her face. She then leans over and—

*chu*

"Eh!?" Jin was flabbergasted.

—gives him a peck on the cheek. Jin touches the cheek with his hand and looks at Alice wide eyed and red faced. Alice was laughing at his reaction. "Ahahahahahaha! That's a very funny face, Jin-kun!"

"Give me a break, Alice-san," Jin sighed but a part of him wanted to smile a bit. Alice was still Alice despite the fact that she was really scary and very much loved to tease him, she was still Alice.

"Nope! Alice likes seeing Jin-kun's embarrassed expression," she winked at him and turns around. Jin noted that she was back to third person. "So Alice will continue to tease Jin-kun!"

Jin sighed. Yep, she was still Alice. "Alice will have to go now," Alice said. "But how was the meeting?"

"Oh, the [Game] got postponed for a week so we'll have some time to think about a strategy to beat them with," the young boy said. "There will also be no aggression between the two sides during that time."

"Alice sees," Alice said. "Please still be on guard, Jin-kun. It might forbid aggression from [Pied Piper of Hamelin] and the rest of the Communities here but it doesn't forbid the aggression between the Communities participating."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Aggression between the [Demon Lord] Community and the participants are forbidden but not the aggression between the participants themselves."

"Why would there be something like that?" Jin asked nervously. Why would any of the Communities attack each other?

"Do you remember those black creatures that were everywhere a while ago?"

"Y-yes," Jin nodded his head. Those were some really nasty creatures. They were quite strong and was very much a pain when they arrived. They caused some real damage and injuries.

"The one controlling them is probably not one of the [Pied Piper of Hamelin]," Alice said. "They might be working with them but they're not a part of that Community."

"I see," Jin placed his fingers on his chin and narrowed his eyes. "An accomplice."

Alice nodded. "So please be careful, Jin-kun."

With that, the young girl left.

"Thanks Alice-san," Jin smiled. "Although, I'd like to say the same to you it might not be needed."

 **[Garden's Universe]**

"Huff, huff," Alice placed a hand on her chest as she breathed deeply. "That was close."

" _Yes, I still want to be your friend Alice-san."_

She had been trying to keep it together since Jin said that. She even tried to divert the subject when she was close to crumbling down.

Despite the fact that Makoto had managed to pacify her a bit, on her core she was still the Demon who kills people so they could be friends with her. Makoto wasn't her friend, he was her surrogate older brother as he managed to find a loophole in that logic.

"I almost asked him to die for me," Alice sadly and darkly smiled as she walked away. "I don't want that."

 **[Chapter 08** **—** **Side: Underwood]**

They all readied themselves for battle when Takaya stated his threat. All expect for Makoto who stood there casually not minding the threat that was directed towards him. Actually, it was like Makoto was egging him on to attack.

"Kill me personally?" Makoto said. "That's quite arrogant of you, Sakaki."

"Do you believe that I can't?" Takaya countered. He and Makoto decided to walk around in a circle. Makoto going to the right while Takaya went to the left.

"Believe? No, I'm pretty sure you can't." Makoto taunted. The confidence in his voice did not betray his feelings. He was very sure that Takaya would not even be able to scratch him.

"Aren't you the arrogant one?" Takaya narrowed his eyes while smiling. He looked like a snake. A venomous one who preferred waiting until their prey dies before devouring them. He pulls out a gun and points it at Makoto.

"Perhaps, but I have the power to back up that arrogance." Makoto said not flinching at the gun pointed at him. In fact, he seems quite amused at the gun.

They had completed a full circle and were back to their original position. The others couldn't interfere because they felt like Makoto did not want them to interfere. Makoto has now lost his smile. "Hey you guys," he said turning to them. "Please don't try to interfere. I want to face him alone."

"Okay," Namie said before the other three could argue. "I know that you hate him a lot, but please don't try to overdo it. We might be able to get some information from him."

"Uhhh," Makoto scratched his cheek with a wry look. "Yeah no, I can't promise that. You how much I don't like this guy."

Looking at Makoto's eyes, Namie had felt that there was no stopping him. "Fine," Namie sighed. "I'll just stop you in case you do go overboard."

"Well let's hope you're fast enough," Makoto said as he walked towards Takaya. Takaya steadies his aim at him but Makoto has calmed down and is back to his carefree persona. "Come Sakaki. Who knows, you might even prove me wrong."

Takaya fired his gun and Makoto tilted his head and the bullet passed over him. Makoto proceeded to kick the ground and sprint towards him. Takaya once again fired, this time simultaneously but Makoto once again dodged them. Once Makoto got close, he decided to throw a straight punch towards Takaya's face but Takaya avoided the attack. The attack caused quite a shockwave that was felt by Makoto's companions and caused Takaya to lose a bit of balance. Makoto proceeded to jump and deliver a kick towards Takaya's abdomen, sending the man flying.

Shirayuki wanted to try and assist but Namie put a hand on her shoulder. "Let him be," Namie told her. "He doesn't show it often but he's still has some grudges in him."

Shirayuki gave her a questioning look and Namie continued. "Makoto had friend who was killed by that man."

Shirayuki's eyes widened. "He may still be regretting the fact that he wasn't able to save his friend. And he's taking out that frustration on beating down the killer."

"That's kind of unexpected," Faceless said. "My impression of him was that he was quite affable and easy going."

"He is," Namie said. "But he's also ruthless when angered. It takes a lot to make him angry though."

"Gugh!" Takaya grunted as Makoto managed to land an elbow in his abdomen. Makoto followed up with a straight punch to the same spot, sending Takaya flying again. Takaya slams on a wall and coughs up blood.

"What's the matter Sakaki?" Makoto said with a smug tone, which contained some restrained anger. He was currently enjoying humiliating his opponent. "Don't tell me that this is all you've got?"

Takaya gritted his teeth before firing another round at Makoto, who just proceeded to smack the shot away like it was nothing. Makoto immediately appeared in front of him and delivered another elbow blow on his abdomen. Takaya doubles over and Makoto grabbed his neck and lifted him up.

"Well, that was rather disappointing," Makoto said tightening his grip on Takaya's neck. The man tried to pry off the hand but failed. "I was kind of expecting something since you boasted with much confidence."

Makoto tightened his grip once again and prepared a fist with his free hand to strike. Just as he was about to slug Takaya, Namie grabbed his arm and stopped him. Sala and Shirayuki had also come. "We need information from him, Makoto."

"Oh yeah, you're right," Makoto said lessening his grip. "Though after spending some time here, I've noticed something about this 'Dark Hour emulation'."

Makoto looked at Takaya. "You say that this is a Dark Hour but is it really a Dark Hour?"

Takaya continued to struggle. "Firstly, It doesn't seem to stop time from flowing, after all stopping time is impossible for someone like you. Secondly, the fact that no one has wandered here besides us. Surely they would've stumbled to this place right?"

Takaya gritted his teeth as Makoto continued. "Yet none has stumbled to this place. You can argue that they turned into coffins the time they entered but as shown earlier with Faceless, Shirayuki, and Sala, they would realize what is happening before turning into coffins. But I still haven't heard someone panic despite that fact that turning into coffins would most likely freak someone out."

"On to the what exactly this is. I believe that it's just a closed off dome that whisks anyone caught in the initial activation into a pocket dimension or a different world. Those caught are immediately turned into coffins. On how we got in, it was probably because of me."

"What about those that weren't caught?" Sala asked. "Surely they would've noticed that some people disappeared."

"They're minds are probably manipulated to temporarily forget anyone who managed to get caught in the dome. Kind of impressive. Not as impressive as stopping time but impressive nonetheless."

"So Sakaki," Makoto smirked at the man. "Am I wrong?"

Takaya gritted his teeth. But he slowly smirked. "As expected you, you managed to figure it out immediately."

"Stop that," Makoto winced. "Being praised by you makes me want to vomit."

Takaya grinned. Makoto did not like the look of it. Takaya suddenly melted into a pile of black mud and covered his arm relatively quickly. The black mud suddenly glowed after it attached itself to Makoto. Makoto knew this glow. Makoto immediately jumped away from Izanami and the others. The black mud exploded as he jumped away. Dusts and rocks were sent flying and Shirayuki and the others had to shield their eyes.

"Makoto!" Shirayuki screamed in worry. There was still a cloud of dust that obscured their view making her more anxious. Izanami placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry," Izanami said in reassurance, though there was a slight hint of worry in her voice. "Makoto won't be taken down by something like that."

"Of course I won't," the cloud of dust clears revealing that Makoto was fine, though his shirt and jacket's right part was ripped apart. He dusted of some of the debris away as he made his way to his companions. "By the way, Shirayuki. I thank you for that scream of worry. I knew you cared."

Shirayuki blushed and Makoto continued dusting himself. "That was a totally dirty trick though. I hate the Hanged Man."

"As expected that didn't kill you," Takaya's voice echoed from every direction. "Well, as a reward, let me tell you something."

"In eight days, a [Demon Lord] Community will attack [Underwood]," Takaya said. Sala widened her eyes at the news.

Sala looked like she was about to say something but Takaya seems to have expected it. "Well the Lost epidemic will have to stop since I have to leave this place.

Takaya suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter. "But don't try to assure yourselves that this will be the last time that you will see me."

Takaya's laugh slowly fades away before finally stopping. Makoto sighed. He looked at Sala. "Well, seems like we're staying for a while longer."

Sala nodded. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Makoto smiles. "I'm always glad to help."

The "Dark Hour" soon started to fade and the people who were once trapped in coffins started to turn back into humans. They also seem to notice that Makoto and the others seems to just appear out of nowhere causing them to back away and raise their guard.

"Mom, why is that guy shirtless?" a little girl asked pointing at him. Oh yeah, his shirt got blown away by the explosion.

"Don't look at him dear," the mother said as she glared at him.

Makoto sighed.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

Some men arrived to investigate the area and interrogate him. Makoto did his best to answer the questions and thankfully Sala was there to back his claims up. After an hour of questioning the men finally left. Makoto decided to get some new clothes and ended up wearing a kimono. It looked kind of nice, perhaps he should start wearing them.

Since they had decided to stay in [Underwood] until the [Demon Lord]'s attack, Sala had gave them a place to stay. Mainly in one of the unoccupied rooms of her mansion. He sat on a chair near the balcony as he drinks tea. A pity that it wasn't as good as what he got from the Queen.

Cana had also strangely been silent. He wondered what kind of plan was she thinking right now.

"Hey," Makoto turned around and saw Namie. She had a change of clothes too. She decided to swap the shrine maiden outfit for a more traditional kimono. The kimono was pinkish-white and had some cherry blossom patterns. Her hair had been tied up into a ponytail. Overall, she was beautiful.

"Yo," Makoto replied. Izanami started to walk towards him and sat on the seat next to him. Makoto decided to pour her some tea which she accepted. They sat together drinking tea in silence.

"It's been a long time since we sat together like this," Makoto said.

"Yes," Izanami replied. "By the way, could you tell me more about that [Dark Hour] Takaya created?"

"But I already told everyone what it is," Makoto raised an eyebrow as he said that.

"The [Dark Hour] can't exist without [Nyx] right? How did Takaya create one if [Nyx] is not here?"

"...Sakaki may have gotten some connection with her," Makoto said. Before Izanami could ask, Makoto decided to continue. "Sakaki disappeared with Tartarus after it's collapse. It's possible that he ended up with [Nyx] as I sealed her."

Izanami stays silent as Makoto continues. "Like how my powers grew due to my connection with her, his powers may have grown as well that's why he was able to create a [Dark Hour]."

"So what you're trying to say is that he might have the potential to match you?"

Makoto nearly spit out his tea. After swallowing the tea, Makoto let out a big laugh. "Come on, Namie! That's too much!"

"Why are you not worried?" Namie said with a glare. "If he managed to obtain a similar power-"

"Our powers aren't that similar."

"Eh?"

"I got stronger with my connection to [Nyx] yes," Makoto said. "But remember that I also obtained a power due to my bonds. With those bonds, I managed to reach the [Universe]. Sakaki may have the same powers I got from [Nyx] but I still have the power that I got from my friends."

Makoto smiles at her. "So don't worry. There's no way I'll lose to anyone."

Izanami saw the confidence in his eyes and smiled. Yes, Makoto would never lose to anyone. Makoto's smile widened. "I haven't seen a sweet smile from you for a while now!"

The smile immediately disappeared and Izanami turned away to hide her blushing face. Makoto grinned and tried to take a closer look. "Come on Izanami, it's such a waste. You're really beautiful when you smile. Not cute, not pretty, but beautiful."

"You're still as careless with your words as ever," Izanami said.

Makoto laughed. "Careless? I prefer honest."

"Too honest in fact."

"Better too honest than a liar."

They laughed softly together. Izanami treasures moments like this. After all being stuck in Yomi isn't the best experience in the world. It's not the worst but it's near that. To be able to laugh like this…it was something that she will always remember.

"Hey," Izanami said causing Makoto to turn to her. "Are you worried about Alice?"

"Hm?"

"Aren't you worried that there might be trouble there too?"

Makoto thought about that. There was a chance that there was also someone in [Salamandra] causing trouble. He had to admit, he was worried about them. But then he remembered that it was Alice that they were talking about. Though Alice looks like a child, she is a Demon with the power of [Madness] in her hand. "Eh, I'm more worried about Arsene and Laius since they're the one who's going to have to restrain her if she goes overboard."

Alice was a good girl. She just didn't know how to stop when she gets too fired up.

"So what are your plans?" Izanami said with a serious face.

"On the upcoming [Game]?" Makoto said to which Izanami nodded. "Hmmmm, lets see….."

"If Scathach and Faceless are still here, I'd like to train with them before the [Game]," Makoto said.

"Then there is no need to worry," a voice at Makoto's left made him jump a bit. It wasn't noticeable but he jumped a bit anyway. Of course, seeing who the woman was on the other side, more specifically on the other side of the portal, she definitely noticed and giggled.

"Oh my, Makoto, were you startled?" Queen Halloween placed a hand on her mouth and giggled on the other side of the portal. Makoto sighed. Queen: 2, Makoto: 0. He had to get a point on her somehow.

"Good Evening, Queen Halloween," Makoto said as he nodded his head a bit. Politeness is always good. He smiled at the blonde woman. "What might you need from me?"

"Oh, I was just checking up on you," Queen Halloween said. "I wanted to make sure a future subordinate of mine is doing well."

"Really? Did you happen to call the wrong person?"

"Rejected again I see."

"The answer is always the same."

"We'll see about that in the near future."

"Or maybe in an Alternate Timeline."

"Are you two done?" Izanami said, displeasure obvious in her voice. Makoto had a vague idea on what caused the displeasure. After all, their tea time was interrupted. But Izanami should at least try to be more apologetic since she did trash Queen Halloween's guest room.

"Oh dear, Good Evening and nice to meet you," Queen Halloween waved and nicely greeted Izanami. For some weird reason this made Izanami even more displeased. Makoto thought that nice greetings would be the start of a good relationship but this greeting had the opposite effect.

"What is your objective?"

"Straight to the point aren't we," the Queen giggled. "Well, then the main objective is to get your Community to join me. Though that's on hold. Right now, I'm here to offer Makoto the chance to prepare for the [Game]. Scathach has agreed to help you with your preparations."

"Really?" Makoto said with bright eyes. "Scathach will train me?"

"Of course," Queen Halloween smiled at him. "Scathach has been interested in your power after your brief meeting a while ago. She's curious and wants to see if your potential can beat Cu Chulainn's."

"Wow, the bar is the greatest Irish hero," Makoto laughed. "Better not disappoint her then. I just have to go back to your mansion tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course," The Queen replied. "I've given you the message, so I'll be going now." With that the portal closed.

"Makoto…" Izanami looked at him, her eyes very displeased.

"Come on now," Makoto rubbed the back of his head. "Underestimating these guys will definitely bite us back. Plus Scathach is a good person. I think."

Izanami let out a tired sigh. "Well, I trust your judgement."

"Alright!" Makoto stood up and stretched his limbs. "I'll be going to bed so that I have some energy for tomorrow."

He flopped to one of the beds face first as Izanami watched with half-opened eyes. "You could at least try to act more like your age."

"I'm technically over a hundred years old," Makoto said as he turned and laid down on his back. "Do you want me to act like an old tortoise sage?"

Izanami contemplated for a bit. "That would be fine."

"I can't act like that."

"Sure you can. You just need to put more effort into it."

"Ehhhh, no," Makoto said as he closed his eyes. He felt the bed shift slightly and opened his eyes. Izanami had lied down beside him on the bed. "Oh my, you want to share the bed?"

"Yes," the goddess answered with a straight face.

…

"Okay then," Makoto said. "It's been a while since we slept on the same bed. I did give you your own room when I created the Velvet Mansion."

"Yes, it has been a while."

"What? Did you miss sleeping with me?" Makoto jokingly said.

"...Yes."

"..." Makoto's poker face was priceless. Izanami looked at him with puppy eyes and a pout. Seriously it was a weapon of mass gap moe. Makoto nearly had a nosebleed. She was so cute.

"Hey, Mako-" the door of the room opened and Shirayuki entered the room. Her sentence stopped when she saw the sight of Makoto and Namie sharing a bed. Her face was frozen in time like somebody used The World. "What kind of deviant event is occuring right now?"

The voice was cold and robotic. That some dangerous sign. Makoto thought of an excuse for a moment before realizing that he had no excuse. He decided to move a bit and make room in the bed. "You can join us in this bed if you want."

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-why should I!?" the water goddess' face turned crimson at his suggestion.

"Well, I'd like to be the meat of a goddess sandwich," Makoto teasingly said. "And since you're here you might as well be the other bread."

"You degenerate," Izanami said in disgust yet she made no attempt to get out of the bed. Makoto playfully laughs at the insult.

In the end, Shirayuki slept with them on the bed because of something about him being a beast and attacking Izanami in her sleep. He wasn't like that. Maybe.

 **[Garden's Universe]**

—Morning, Queen Halloween's Mansion

"You're here," Scathach greeted as they reached the mansion. Like the previous day, she was wearing a butler outfit. She had the same red spear on her hand.

"Yo," Makoto greeted back.

"Good morning," Shirayuki bowed her head.

"..." Izanami just glared at the teacher who glared back. The two really didn't like each other.

"Follow me," Scathach gestured for them to come inside the mansion. She led them through a rather long hallway. After a long walk they arrived at a door. Scathach opened the door and they all went inside. The room was pretty large, to the point where it didn't seem like it could fit in the mansion. There were potted plants as well as trees at the side. There was a large field in the center and at the side of that field was a set of tables, seats, and a parasol where Queen Halloween sat on while drinking tea while Faceless stood by her side.

"Oh hello," Queen Halloween greeted. "I'm really delighted to have you back in this humble abode."

"Yeah me too," Makoto smiled.

"I know about you in paper but I want to see your power in person," the Queen said. "I also want to know the skills of someone who might work for me in the future."

At this point, Makoto wasn't going to bother refuting that. Scathach had went to the other side of the field and was waiting for him to come as well. Makoto made his way to the opposite side and faced Scathach. Shirayuki and Izanami went to Queen Halloween's table instead who smiled at them and gestured for them to take a seat.

"Feel free to pull out a weapon against me," Scathach said as she raised the tip of her spear towards him. "And don't worry, you don't need to hold back against me. I'm pretty strong you know."

"Of course I do," Makoto materializes Futsunomitama-no-tsurugi. Faceless' eyes widened at the sight of the sword while Queen Hallowee smiles in contrast. Scathach had gone into battle stance as she eyed him. "I'm not going to pull any punches."

Makoto charged. Usually Makoto waits for the opponent to give out the first move but this time was different. Scathach was skilled enough to the point that she may be able to knock his out of his hand if she went first. Makoto wasn't going to let that happen.

Scathach blocks his sword with her spear. Makoto moves fluidly as he doesn't relent. Like a flowing river, his blade did not stop. He kept striking and Scathach kept blocking. The Lady of Dun Scaith smiled as she blocked his strikes.

Though it may look that Makoto had the advantage, Scathach was actually the one that had the edge in the fight. Makoto was getting tired while the spearwoman was no worse for wear. Scathach eventually decided to strike. She lunged forward and trusted her spear. Makoto had barely managed to avoid the lightning speed strike as it nearly impaled him. Makoto jumped back and created some distance between them.

Scathach was not going to let that happen. She lunged forward. The situation had now been reversed. Makoto was the one on defense while Scathach was the one in offense. Unlike Makoto however, Scathach was actually getting some hits in her assault. Small punctures on his stomach and legs, cuts in near his eyes as well as his arms. Small they may be, but a single hole can sink even the mightiest ship.

"He's losing," Shirayuki commented.

"Indeed he is," the Queen agreed.

"He is up against the teacher of the hound of Cullan," Faceless said. "Who incidentally is also my teacher."

"He can't win against her," Izanami said. "In a straight fight that is."

Makoto gritted his teeth. It seems he's going to fight like how he always fights.

By being a pragmatist.

"Agidyne!" the ground that Makoto and Scathach was standing on exploded in fire. Scathach jumped away from the fire, losing her momentum.

"That was a dirty move," the lady butler said.

"Well, there was no rules predetermined before the fight and you asked me not to hold back," Makoto smiled wryly.

Scathach lunged and Makoto formed a wall of ice. Scathach easily destroys the wall of ice like it was paper but Makoto had anticipated that. The wall of ice was merely a distraction.

Makoto had jumped up before the wall of ice was destroyed. He swung his sword downwards as Scathach thrust upwards. He would get pierced before he struck her but he was already prepared.

"Garudyne!" a blast of wind propelled him downwards and placed him behind Scathach. the Lady of Dun Scaith's eyes widened. Makoto slashed in a horizontal arc. There was no way for anyone to block it immediately.

Scathach however was not just anyone. She proceeded to spin the spear in her hand mid-thrust and thrusts the spear downward. The shaft of the spear blocks the blade just before it can hit her. She quickly pulls it up and once again threw a thrust.

"Kuh!" Makoto jumped back to avoid the spear. He landed on one of his knees as he grinned at Scathach. He was totally outmatched in terms of skills. Even when he had began being crafty, she still managed to get herself out of that position. "As expected from the teacher of Cu Chulainn. You're really impressive."

"I could say the same to you," Scathach complimented. "I might just want to mentor you, seeing how much potential you have in you."

"Heh, thanks. But you haven't seen everything yet," Makoto grinned as he produced multiple glowing balls in the air. The ball was rich in almighty energy, it was a Megido after all. Scathach put on her guard as the orbs appeared. "I still have a lot of tricks up my sleeves."

" _Let's go,"_ Cana said. She would probably be grinning confidently if she had a body. Makoto strikes one of the balls into another one which bounced as well. The balls started hitting each other until it turned into some pinball.

"!" Scathach's eyes widened. The balls movements were fast as they were unpredictable. She had no idea when they would hit her or when they would bounce off again.

" _Strike the one in the left, the one that's about to stray off!"_

" _Got it!"_ Makoto slams the stray ball into another starting another chain of bouncing. The chain this time drove one of the balls to strike behind Scathach. The ball hits her and explodes. "Alright! First hit!"

He was good at calculating and he was also good at fighting. However he is not good at doing them simultaneously. He would even sometimes stop to think of his next move or he would have to plan out on how to take the match from the start.

Since Cana is with him, he can live the calculations and plans to her while he fights. It was especially helpful in the case that something that he didn't predict were to occur during the battle.

" _Alright now hit the one at her side, 90 degrees to her right!"_ Makoto followed and another chain of bouncing occurs. The bouncing results to the several orbs bouncing towards Scathach in all directions. Scathach's eyes widened just before the orbs hit her and a large explosion occurs.

"Phew," Makoto let out a big sigh.

" _Don't sigh just yet, the battle isn't over until one of you says so,"_ Cana said.

" _I know, you don't have to act like a drill sergeant."_

"Impressive," the smoke clears revealing a perfectly fine Scathach. "That was a rather unique way of fighting. Using bouncing exploding orbs to corner an opponent. Truly impressive."

"Thanks."

The Lady of Dun Scaith smiles and rests her spear on her shoulders. "Let's take a break first however, that was a rather exciting and tiring match after all."

Makoto let out another sigh, this time out of relief. "Thank you again."

The two made their way towards the others. They seem to have gotten some snacks and drinks during the fight. Izanami offered Makoto a towel while Scathach just got a drink. They both sat down as the rest.

"That was a rather good display, Makoto," Queen Halloween complimented. "I want you even more now."

"You don't give up," Makoto smiled. "I like that."

The Queen giggled. She reached out and moved his hair a bit revealing his cobalt green right eye. Makoto was taken aback by the action and blinked a bit before smiling wryly. "Umm, what are you doing?"

"Nothing much," the Queen said. "Your eye has a rather interesting color."

Makoto wasn't sure on how to answer that. His right eye changed color when he got reincarnated. It was due to Cana's presence within him. Her soul kind of influenced his body and as such his right eye was cobalt green. That's also why his hair was a tiny bit longer than it should be. He's face was also a bit feminine if one looks close enough. His skin was also smooth and soft.

He wondered if that was the reason most girls would look at him with envy whenever he was out shopping for groceries before he came here to Little Garden.

"It kind of reminds me of a certain person," the blonde woman said as she goes back and lets the hair fall back to place. "It's a shame that you hide it. It's quite beautiful."

He wasn't hiding it in any particular reason. He just felt more comfortable in this hairstyle. The conversation ended with that and all of them relaxed together in silence. Makoto remembered Algol and took her out of his pocket.

"Please don't try to release her right now," the Queen said as she sipped her tea. "This place might get destroyed if you do."

"Oh don't worry. I wasn't going to release her just yet," Makoto said as he pocketed back Algol.

"Are you saving her for the upcoming [Game]?"

"Yes, just in case."

"What are your other plans?"

"It might take a lot of time if we talk about it now," Makoto said. "And they're not just my plans."

Cana was also there to help him. She even came up with some of her own.

"I'm a patient girl if I need to be," the blonde smiled.

"Well then," Makoto began explaining the plans he had. Faceless and Shirayuki had a look of shock on their faces as they heard it. Izanami and Scathach had wry look. Lastly Queen Halloween had a look of delight on her face.

Despite the fact that most of them sounded ridiculously hard to pull off, Queen Halloween had a feeling that he would be able to do it.

She could hardly wait for the [Game] now.

 **[Author's Note]**

 _ **What's up guuuuuuuuuyyyss? I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me.**_

 **New chapter Yay!**

 **Been pretty busy. A lot of things happened and this kind of got lost in it, so I'm very very sorry once again. Especially since this chapter seems unremarkable.**

 **I also made Akechi and Takaya more powerful here so they can stand a chance. They probably wouldn't last long in Mondaiji if they were in the same level when they were in the game. Makoto would just steamroll them if that was the case. I also don't want Makoto to steamroll everything in his way because that would be too boring. I mean who wants to watch someone just rolling down the story with no challenge and minimum effort? I don't.**

 **I'm gonna add another member to [XXI: Universe] soon. I'll give a hint on who it will be:**

 **Hint #1: His alignment is similar to Ivan the Terrible in FGO. Ivan is considered to be a Lawful/Chaotic character.**

 **Hint #2: He was in Persona 5 yet wasn't in Persona 5.**

 **[Extra Chapter: Reincarnated Life: A Visit from the Young Velvet Girl]**

—Former Iwatodai Dormitory, six months after the reincarnation

*Ding dong*

Makoto heard the doorbell ring as he cooked the curry for lunch. Weird, he just paid the bills a week ago. Also there was practically no one who knew him personally enough for the to make a visit. It could be Aigis but that made no sense.

Aigis has become an internet idol after all. Literally. She uploaded herself to the internet. She's literally everywhere at this point. Makoto wondered if she's found him.

*Ding dong* the doorbell rang again. Izanami was off getting some groceries with Alice so they couldn't answer the door.

"Just a minute!" Makoto called out. He turns off the fire when he sees that the curry is cooked enough and went towards the door. He dried his ands with a towel nearby and opened the door. The person surprised Makoto for a bit. She was after all, Elizabeth's younger sister.

"Oh hey, uh," Makoto tried to remember her name. "Lavenza?"

That was the name written in the letter he received from himself after all. The girl nodded. "What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to visit," Lavenza made herself welcome and went inside the apartment room. "You're rather fond of plants."

That was true. He took care of a lot of plants and it was practically his hobby. Lavenza sat on one of the couches and picked up a book. Upon closer inspection, Makoto's eyes widened.

"Wait! that's—" too late. Lavenza opened the book and her face immediately turned red. She immediately slammed the book shut and placed it back to where she picked it up.

"T-to think that such a book existed," Lavenza stammers. She found the rather erotic doujin that Makoto bought last night (don't judge). Makoto cursed himself for not hiding it immediately. Though she was quite grateful that Lavenza found it before Alice. He didn't want to think about that scenario.

Makoto took the erotic doujin and hid it in one of the bookshelves. Of course he covered it so it wouldn't stand out. He went back to the living room after brewing some tea and sat at the seat opposite to Lavenza. "So what really brings you here?"

"I wanted to check up on you," Lavenza said taking the cup of tea handed to her. "I wanted to make sure that you were doing okay."

Makoto was touched but also confused. Despite only meeting her once, Lavenza was looking out for him. "Thanks, even though we barely know each other."

The moment he said that, Lavenza looked kind of sad. Makoto didn't know what he did wrong to make her sad like that. "Yes," she said in a melancholic tone as she sips her tea. "Even though we barely know each other."

"Is there something that I need to know?"

"Everything is for you to figure out."

"You cryptic Velvet residents and your cryptic velvet words," Makoto complained, he picks up his cup of tea and takes a sip. Lavenza actually giggled a bit. That's good, he managed to lighten up the mood. He's really grateful for the time he spent with his friends. If he was still the past Makoto, who was a grade-A ass, Lavenza might've Megidolaon'd him. Megidolaowned, heh. "Well, how's Elizabeth and Igor?"

"Sister and Master are doing fine," Lavenza said. "The Velvet Room had helped out a lot of Wild Cards in saving the world. There's even one in their own journey right now."

"Hoh?" Makoto whistled, interested at the news. "I'd like to meet them but I might interfere with their own journey."

"Maybe it isn't so bad to help them out a bit," She said.

"After all, you did….," Lavenza whispers something he couldn't hear.

"Eh? What was that?" Makoto tilted his head.

"Oh , it was nothing."

Makoto wasn't so convinced but he decided to let it go. "So who's the current attendant of the Velvet Room."

"Theodore is," she said. "He seems to be having a hard time though with his job though."

Makoto chuckled. "I did not expect that. I thought that all of you already had experience in assisting Wild Cards."

"No we don't. It's just that Theodore tries hard to look amazing but in the end he ends up making a fool of himself."

Ouch. Makoto tried hard not to laugh but perhaps some managed to escape his mouth as Lavenza giggled as well.

The door opens once again and Namie and Alice comes in. Alice had an amused look while Namie looked tired. "We're back," Namie said. "I don't want to go grocery shopping with Alice again."

"Oh come on, Namie-chan!" Alice laughed. "It wasn't that bad."

"Maybe for you," Namie sighed. Namie finally noticed Lavenza in the room. Lavenza smiled and waved at her. "Okay, Makoto. Who is this?"

"She's Lavenza, Elizabeth's younger sister," Lavenza gave a curt nod as Makoto introduced her. "Lavenza, this is Namie and Alice."

"Alice? Namie?" Lavenza tilted her head. She places down her tea and puts a finger on her chin. She puffs out her cheeks as she hummed while concentrating. It was kind of cute to be honest, Makoto actually wanted to poke her cheeks. "Could it be that you two are Izanami and that Alice?"

"Yup!" Alice said cheerfully before Izanami could stop her.

"I see, they feel like real living beings instead of Personas" Lavenza said. "I don't think I'm going to ask how you managed to do it."

"Haha," Makoto scratched his cheeks with a wry smile. He suddenly got an idea. "Hey, why don't you eat with us Laveza?"

"Eh?" Lavenza's eyes widened slightly.

"We rarely get any guests to be honest, so I wanted you to eat with us," Makoto said. "Come on, no need to be shy."

Lavenza ponders for a bit, once again puffing her cheeks as she thought about whether to accept or not. Makoto couldn't resist and he leaned over and pressed her puffed up cheeks, causing her to expel the air in her mouth. Lavenza looks at him with a puzzled look on her face.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Makot said. "You were just so cute, puffing your face like that."

Lavenza blushed a bit. Izanami and Alice sighed.

"Onii-chan…" Alice said with half-opened eyes.

"Makoto…" Izanami said looking at him with displeasure.

"What?" Makoto said, clueless.

"You probably won't get it, so never mind," Namie sighed.

Makoto shrugged his shoulders a bit. "Well Lavenza? You want to stay over to eat with us?"

Lavenza was silent for a moment before nodding. Makoto smiled and took her to the dining room with Izanami and Alice in tow. Lavenza had never eaten with anyone before but this would probably be the best meal she ever had.

 **[Extra Chapter]**

"Lavenza what's wrong?" Her sister asked. It seems that Lavenza had spaced out. They were currently on a world with some Netherworld taken over by an Overlord called Void Dark. She and Elizabeth decided to lay low to focus on finding Little Garden.

"Oh, nothing much," Lavenza said. "Just a memory."

"I see," Elizabeth said. She looks down and applied some pressure on her foot to stop a general of Void Dark, Majorita, from crawling away. "What are we going to do with her?"

"Let's just knock her out and leave, sister," Lavenza said as she prepared a Megidolaon overhead. "We're in a hurry after all."

She and Elizabeth floated up as Majorita tries to stand back up. "You bitches!" Majorita shouted towards them before turning pale at the sight of two gigantic orbs of Almighty power. She didn't have the time to run away before it came down on her.

The blast practically obliterated the asteroid they were on as Elizabeth and Lavenza makes their way to the next world.


End file.
